Year 790
by Diana Raven
Summary: The year is X790 and Sabertooth has yet to win a Grand Magic Games. Jiemma decides to bring out the big guns and sends five of his most powerful members out to the GmG. They have to win. (not good at summaries but please read! OC is not the celestial spirit, it's just a good name.)
1. Meet Sabertooth

Jiemma glared at his guild. His little members stood in front of him afraid. He loved his guild. He really couldn't bear to look at the weak one he'd allowed in on sympathies. It was year X790, he wanted to win those fucking games.

"Rufus, Orga, Sting, Rogue, Lyra." He ordered. "Step forward." Four of the five he named did as told. The fifth wasn't there. _Fuck it Lyra, you should be here. You are making me look weak and uncontrolling._ He thought angrily. _I will skin you. _

Sting didn't say anything before Master but he was doubtful about this Lyra. He's heard many things about her, and though he was new to the guild and hadn't met all the members yet, he wasn't sure she was a good candidate for the Grand Magic Games. But after what happened to the last person who objected to Master, Sting wouldn't either.

"You will be this year's candidates for the Grand Magic Games. You have two weeks before the Games commence, and this would be a good time to get to know one another." Jiemma ordered. Everyone in the Guild knew that he wasn't making a suggestion.

"But I will warn you. If you fail you won't need to come back to Saberto-" He was unceremoniously cut off by the Guild door opening.

A girl walked through, a bag of Jewel swung over her shoulder. She was humming a tune. The Guild hall became silent, her shoes _click-clack_ed on the tile floor of the hall, her humming the only other sound. The guild turned to look at her. She walked up to Jiemma a look of pure happiness on her face, something not seen often at Sabertooth. She dropped her bag of Jewel at his feet (the Master took a tax form his members). She turned to the group of four male mages, and the entire guild (who were at home) staring at her. She whistled astounded. She turned to Jiemma curiously.

"Who died?" She asked mockingly.

Jiemma scowled. "Lyra," He growled.

"Yes Master J?" She asked, cocking her head to one side.

Sting almost scoffed. _This_ was Lyra? He glanced her up and down. She wore a leather jacket that covered her arms up to her wrists. She had leather gloves on her hands, almost no skin showed there. Her black shirt wasn't high collared but wasn't low either. In the space between the base of her neck, and the collar-line was her pink guild mark. She had tight black pants and black boots scuffed and covered in mud and dirt. She was about his age, he guessed.

"You will be going to the Grand Magic Games, this is the rest of your team." He pointed to the four mages.

She raised an eyebrow and glanced them over, a hand running through her short pink hair. She twisted the one blue streak in it. Rogue noticed and vaguely thought that her hair reminded him of Sting's, considering it was about the same length.

"Well, the boys don't look like much," she said nodding to the Twin Dragon Slayers. "But at least I know the other two. We might even win this one." She said with a tone of amusement in her voice.

Jiemma's scowl deepened. "You _will _win. I will not tolerate any more losses."

"Course not Master J." Lyra turned to her new team. "I can work with this." She muttered to herself. She then glanced back at Jiemma and smiled. Jiemma didn't smile, he couldn't. He didn't know how she could, _none _of the guild knew how, but she did.

"Dismissed." The Master ordered. No one thought of moving until he stood and left. Then they all exhaled together.

Then Lyra smiled back at them. "Hey guys." She sang chipper as ever. "I'm back."


	2. Meet Lyra

The crowd cheered and many mages ran to hug and greet her. The Twins stayed back and watched as she laughed and greeted her guild mates.

"Sting," Rogue commented. The White Dragon Slayer turned to his twin.

"Yeah Rogue?"

"Lyra." Rogue said. "She is different."

"How so?"

"Yeah, how so Rogue?" Lector repeated.

"She is happy. Not many people in this Guild are happy for happiness's sake." Rogue said.

Frosch glanced at his partner and back at the other pair of Dragon Slayer and Exceed. "Fro think so too!" Frosch added helpfully.

"Hey." Someone said. The Twins and their Exceeds jumped.

Lyra, Rufus, and Orga stood behind them.

"What's your name?" She asked with an easy smile.

There was a hesitation then, "I'm the Great Sting Eucliffe." Sting said proudly.

"And I the mighty Lector, but not as mighty as the Great Sting of course." Lector said just as proudly.

"What about you, tall, dark and brooding?" Lyra asked.

It took Rogue a second to realize Lyra meant him. "Rogue, and this is Frosch." He said, he pointed to the small pink and green cat at his feet. Lyra bent down, and her eyes lit up.

"Aw! What an adorable little-" she frowned. "Wait a second, this isn't a frog." She pulled down his hood. "It's a cat!"

Frosch's eyes grew wide. "But I am a frog!" He protested.

Lyra seemed to be oblivious to him though. She picked him up and cuddled him to her chest. "Aw! How _cute_!"She squealed. Frosch seemed happy to be hugged though.

"What about me?" Lector asked. "Am I cute?"

Lyra smiled. "You're a cat too!"

"An Exceed!" He proclaimed. She scooped him up as well, but she seemed more cautious with him.

"Adorable!" She repeated.

The Twins looked at her confused. She finally set them down.

"Lyra, my dear." Rufus said, touching the brim of his hat. "We should leave, as well as get to know each other. We only have two weeks."

"I agree with Rufus." Orga voiced. Lyra shrugged.

"Ok. How about this? We leave in ten minutes?"

"Where would we be going?" Sting asked.

Lyra shrugged. "Wherever. Ten minutes, starting now." She said, and she sprinted toward her room.


	3. Lyra's Magic

Sting packed. After Sting packed he and Lector went for a walk. Seven minutes left. They continued to walk down the dorms when they started to hear singing. Singing? Who was singing?

Lector had been talking about something and Sting stopped him. "Do you hear that?"

"What? The singing?"

"Yeah. I know it's not Orga who's singing."

Lector chuckled. "That's for sure." They followed the noise to a closed door.

"_Along with a little dirty suitcase,_

_I descended from the sky,_

_Across the man it called me here,_

_The place I've longed and dreamed for_

_Yea, yea, yea, Rock City Boy,_

_Yea, yea, yea, Rock City Boy,_"

Sting knocked on the door. The singing stopped. The person inside opened the door.

"Lyra?" Sting asked surprised. The pink haired Saber blushed horribly.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I- I heard you sing." Sting said surprised by her reaction.

"Oh," Lyra said. Then her eyes widened. "Never ever tell anyone." Lyra ordered. "Otherwise I might have to kill you."

Sting smirked, "Will do." He said. But he wasn't exactly sure if she was joking or not. She grabbed her bag.

"Accompany me to the guild hall?" She asked, chipper again.

They walked down, Sting and Lector with their bags over their shoulder (the trio stopped by their room to get them). Rufus was already there (2 minutes), reading a book. Behind them was Orga, clomping his way towards them. Rogue appeared a minute later, Frosch at his side.

"I have thought of a plan." Rufus said as they walked to a location in the forest for training. "We each run training for a day."

"But what if someone doesn't want to doesn't want, or can't do the exercises for that day?" Rogue asked practically.

"How about a bet?" Lyra asked cocking her head, thinking. The boys looked at her.

"Huh?"

"Well, if you can't or won't do the exercise there should be a penalty. Like a bet, whoever is last or won't do it has to do something picked by the leader of the exercise. Like a punishment game thing." Then she thought for a minute. "Just no nudity or bodily fluids." The boys mulled it over.

"It's not a bad idea…" Rufus said.

Orga shrugged, "Why not?"

"Bring it on!" Sting said happily.

"That's right! The mighty Sting can take anything!" Lector added.

"This might end badly…" Rogue said quietly, but he didn't object.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch said good-naturedly, but no one could tell who he was responding to.

"I have made a plan on who will go, and what the order is." Rufus said. They entered the forest. "Lyra, you will go first. Then Rogue, then Orga, me, and then Sting."

"Aw! Why am I last?" Sting asked irked.

"Yeah! Sting should-" Lector started.

"Quiet Lector." Rufus ordered. Lector silenced.

"So, Sting, what's your magic anyway?" Lyra asked. She stepped onto a fallen log and spread out her arms while she walked across it.

"You don't know?" Sting asked surprised.

Orga shrugged. "Lyra's been on missions since you got here. It's not surprising she doesn't know."

"Rogue and I are Dragon Slayers." Sting said proudly. Lyra stumbled and almost fell off her log.

"Are you ok?" Rufus asked with a dramatic flair as he stabilized her.

"Yeah, fine." Lyra grumbled. _Not really a fan of Dragon Slayers._ She thought. She went back to her smiling self, trying to forget 6 years ago. "What type? There's types, aren't there?"

"Yeah. I'm the White Dragon Slayer, and Rogue is the Shadow Dragon Slayer." Sting said proudly. "And together we're the Twin Dragon Slayers!"

"Cool." Lyra said smiling.

"What about you?" Rogue asked. "What type of magic do you use?"

Lyra grinned. "I don't." She said.

The Twins frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a special type of person." Lyra said, her grin spreading to Orga and Rufus's faces. No doubt because they'd heard her 'speech' before. "The commonly used yet untrue term is Witch Hunter, but I think we're more of Voids."

"Voids?" Rogue asked.

"At most three are alive at a time." Lyra said. "Before I joined Sabertooth, the Council wanted to use me as a weapon to fight Dark Guilds. I didn't want to be used as a weapon. Because I joined a guild, the kingdom can't use me as a weapon. I pay allegiance to the Guild, not the Council."

"Yeah, but what exactly is a Void?" Sting prompted.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Every person is filled with some amount of M.E., Magic Energy. Wizards are filled with more than most, and can manipulate the M.E. to their desire through what we call Magic. A Void is the exact opposite of a Wizard, hence the term Void, or the term Witch Hunter. Instead of being filled with an abundance of M.E. we are lacking M.E. We absorb other people's M.E. and this makes us stronger. So no magic attacks work on me."

"That sounds awesome!" Lector announced.

"The downside is that, I can't touch anyone skin to skin because of this. Since everyone has at least a little M.E. in them, unless they are also Void, I can't touch them without absorbing their M.E. That's why I wear this." She motioned to the black leather covering her arms and hands.

"But if you're not really a mage, then how can you participate in the Games?" Rogue asked.

"It's not banned. Anyone who wears the insignia and isn't Guild Master is allowed to enter."

"How did you get accepted into Sabertooth if you aren't a mage then?" Sting asked.

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "How do you think? I asked to join, and after a short demonstration, I did."

Rogue thought for a second. "But you were hugging people back at the Guild-"

"You can hug people without touching their skin." Lyra replied.

"So if I touch your face, what would happen?" Sting asked.

"I don't see why you would, but you would probably start feeling weak, and your breaths might get heavier. Then being able to breathe or stay awake might be too hard for you at all." Lyra told him.

"So you can't touch anyone. You can't ever hug anyone, or kiss anyone." Rogue said.

"I can. I mean, I can hug and touch, just not-"

"Skin to skin." Rogue finished. "What you do isn't…" He paused. "That's not touching."

Frosch looked between the two of them and nodded. "Fro think so too!" But no one believed he knew what he was actually agreeing to.

They walked into a clearing and Lyra sat in the middle of the clearing.

"I think here's a good place for us to unpack." Lyra said. She and the boys unpacked their stuff, and set up a large tent.

"What do we do first?" Sting asked, stretching his arms out.

"I was thinking a race to the lake." Lyra said. "No, flying, no magic." Lyra turned away and smiled back at them. "Last person there get's to do what I want!" She reminded them. She took off, leaving dust in her wake.

"I'm not gonna be last!" Orga shouted, and ran after her.

"Me neither!" Sting dashed after them. Rufus and Rogue looked at each other.

"Children." They said together. Then ran, for fear of being last.


	4. Training Day 1

Lyra got to the lake first. Then Orga, then Rufus who had somehow skipped over Sting. Minutes later Sting and Lector started to emerge into the lakeshore. Rogue and Frosch right behind them.

"Looks like Rogue is last." Lyra said with a smile. "I thought we'd start small." She said. Rogue was breathing heavily and Frosch looked between them fearfully.

"Come here Rogue." She ordered. He looked up at her, eyes wide.

"Come on, I won't bite." She said. Rogue moved slowly towards her.

"Pushups." She said. "100 of them."

Sting stifled a laugh, and Rogue's eyes widened.

"What?" Lyra asked.

"Rogue? Doing a pushup?" Sting laughed.

Rogue glared at him. "I can do one!" He objected. Sting continued to laugh. Rogue got down and started to do one. By his fifth he was already sweating heavily. Lyra shook her head.

"If that's all you can do, I don't think you'll be able to handle my punishment." Lyra said.

"I can handle it!" Rogue insisted. Lyra sighed.

"Ok then. I was going to wait until you did ten, but if you can handle it…" She said. She sat on his back. He grunted in the added weight.

"Only 95 more to go." She said. After one more, Rogue fell onto his arms. Sting went from his giggling to full on howling in laughter.

"You think you can do any better?" Lyra asked. Sting stopped his laughing.

"I could do all 100!" He boasted. Lyra got up from Rogue, and pointed towards the ground.

"Ok. Get down, let's see." She ordered.

Sting started on his first, and Lyra sat on his back, with another grunt he started on his pushups.

When he got to 15 he started to groan. "Having trouble?" Lyra asked.

"Damn it. Why are you so heavy?" Sting moaned. Lyra slapped him.

"Never call a girl heavy, you little shit!" She rebuked him. She balanced herself as she stood, and jumped.

"Huh?" Sting said as he felt the weight leave his back, then he screamed as she came down. His chest met the ground with a heavy thump.

"Ow…" He complained.

Lyra stood and crossed her arms. "Well, if you're so strong do it yourself!" Sting challenged.

Lyra shrugged. She bent down, and got into position. "Get on." She said. Sting got on her back, even though she was smaller than he was, and she started doing the pushups.

"You idiot." Orga said as Lyra continued on her 20's. "Lyra can't use magic, so she's been building up her strength. The first thing she learned to do was this little exercise." Lyra was getting to 40 by now.

"Wow." Rogue said. Sting crossed his arms.

"Hmph. I'm not impressed." He said. Orga rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Lyra had gotten to 56 and she rolled over, knocking Sting off her.

"Why did you stop?" Sting asked. "You can't do it?"

"I can. But we have more important things to do." Lyra said. She stretched out her arms, and then she started to take off her jacket.

"What are you doing?" Rogue asked.

"Well we didn't come here for the scenery." Lyra said. She started to strip into a bathing suit under her clothes. Rufus frowned.

"Do we really have to get wet?" He asked. _I don't want to get my hair wet_. He thought.

"Uh, yeah." She said. "We're near a lake. Don't expect my training to be a piece of cake. First thing we'll work on is swimming, and then we'll work on water fighting." She said. She walked into the water. "Coming?" She asked.

They followed, each stripping down to bathing suits. The others knew how to swim so they swam the length of the lake a few times. Then she took them on one at a time. Rufus vs. Lyra was the first match. They showed the others the drill. They both got in a guard stance. Rufus smirked, moving his arms.

Lyra closed her eyes, concentrating.

She chose the water for a reason. When a person is in water, their movements make noise. And while Rufus, (really 'Rufus') moved, there was no sound. No movement in the water, because that wasn't Rufus. That was his Memory-make. She felt the water from behind her move. She turned and he attacked. Lyra blocked and stumbled back a little.

"Memory make-" Lyra cut him off by attacking mid-spell.

"Rule one. Never let your guard down." She punched and he evaded. "Rule two, don't be predictable." She stepped back, and slapped her hand across the water, spraying it in his eyes. "Rule three, use your surroundings to your advantage."

"Memory-"

"And rule four." She said, ducking under the water. She kicked him and sprung back above the surface. "Never stop your spell. Most mages are useless without their magic. Never stop your spell."

"Memory –make: SHRINE OF TURNBULENT FANG!" Rufus shouted.

The small tornados were created. Lyra vaguely applauded him for not attacking her directly. She absorbed direct attacks but his tornados were affecting the water which affected her. Lyra screamed as she was torn from the water as it rose, and thrown into the air. She screamed as she fell through the air, and someone cast a spell so when she landed she didn't get seriously hurt. Lyra went underwater and swam to where she could stand. Then she grinned and she shook out her head like a dog. The water from her head sprayed on the boys, who covered their eyes protectively.

"Good." She said with a laugh. "Very good. Next."

Rogue swam over to her. Frosch was holding onto Lector, who was holding onto Sting so he didn't drown. Rogue moved himself so he could easily defend. Lyra started with a kick to the torso. Because it was slowed in the water, Rogue caught it and yanked on it. Lyra lost her balance and went underwater. Rogue pushed her down, and they were tumbling into the dark water. Lyra glanced up, holding her breath. She saw the outline of Rogue's head, and she saw the sun shining in. His arms were around her shoulders, and he was falling. Because neither of them had realized that they had started touching. Suddenly it wasn't Rogue in control, pushing Lyra down; it was Lyra trying to drag him up. Lyra heard his muffled screams and she tried so hard to drag him up. But her air was running out, and the pressure and the-

_No. Think. Stop. THINK! _Lyra forced her eyes open.

Lyra forced herself to drag him to the surface. She tried to find her footing, but she couldn't. Her head came up from underwater and she screamed, so did Rogue, except she screamed for help, and he screamed from pain.

Suddenly a cat was flying towards her, and grabbed the weight from her arms. Another person grabbed her, but she didn't feel them. She felt cloth. She and Rogue were dragged to the shore, and the others' worried voices started asking, "What do we do?" "Are they alive?" "What can we do?" "What just happened?" and so on.

Lyra took heavy breaths. She pushed the vest that was wrapped around her off. She loosely remembered that it was Sting's. Her eyes widened, and she held her hands together. She was terrified. She was terrified because Rogue wasn't breathing.

Frosch held onto Rogue's hand, just as scared Lyra was. Rufus bent down and started to push on Rogue's chest.

"I have a memory for this." He muttered to himself. I held my breath as he continued to revive Rogue.

"One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand." With each 'one thousand' he pumped his hands on Rogue's chest. Rufus breathed into Rogue's mouth. He checked for a pulse.

"One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand." Rufus repeated the actions.

"One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand."

"One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand."

"One one thousand! Two one thousand! Three one thousand!" He said, his voice rising. He lowered his head to hear the breathing. Instead Rogue spasmed and vomited water on him.

"Rogue! You're alright!" Frosch shouted happily. Frosch threw himself on Rogue, crying from joy. Sting smirked.

"I knew you'd live." Sting said, rolling his eyes, concealing how afraid he had actually been. Lector nodded.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch blubbered and continued to hug Rogue. Rogue's breathing became easier, and sand stuck to the wet parts of his back and hands and hair. Rogue's attention turned to Lyra. Lyra blushed, and crossed her arms over her chest. Should she apologize? Was he afraid of her? She didn't want that.

"Rogue, Rogue I'm-"

"It's my fault." He said.

"What?"

"It's my fault. I grabbed you. You warned me what would happen. Now I've felt it." Rogue grinned and turned towards Sting. "I don't recommend doing what I did." He said. Sting rolled his eyes.

"Nothing can hurt me! I am the mighty Sting!" He said powerfully. Lyra rolled her eyes and resisted poking him.

"I think we should call that one a draw." Rogue said. He smiled. Lyra took that as her queue that he was forgiven.

"Well I the might-"

"Yeah, we get it your mightiness." Lyra said, irked. "You're next to fight." Sting started to walk into the lake, but Lyra shook her head.

"No. No lake. Not happening after we almost drowned." Lyra warned. Sting shrugged.

"Ok." He said. "WHITE DRAGON HOLY BLAST!"

Lyra brought her arms to in front of her face. Rogue's eyes widened. "Lyra! DUCK!" He shouted. Lyra just ignored him. The blast hit her full on and Sting laughed happily.

Lyra hadn't paid attention to the rush when Rogue had touched her. But now she felt the rush. The rush of a Dragon Slayer. She had never understood why everyone, even Master J, loved them so much. Now she did. That M.E. though. It blew her mind, and she loved it. She wanted more of that, that beautiful white energy, the white light, that holy magic. She wanted _so_ much more.

"Uh, Lyra, you're…" Rogue tried to find the word. He found the correct one. "_Glowing_."

Lyra grinned and looked down. There definitely was a glowing aura around her. "Cool." She said, eyes wide. "Now, we can fight." She said.

The M.E. glow faded more, and she flew at him. She kicked him, and he tripped backward. Something flashed in his eyes, something very opposite of arrogance, and something more like fear. Lyra liked that. She threw a punch at him and he groaned as she hit. She did it again, and again, and the power she siphoned off from each punch made her fly.

Someone grabbed her. She noticed the cloth between her skin and theirs. She looked down on her little Dragon Slayer, still high on M.E.

_Wow_ she thought in a state of stoned-ness. _Sting's kinda hot_. Then she lost her balance and closed her eyes.

Orga held the Witch Hunter in his arms. Minerva had warned him about this. When she consumed too much Magic Energy she became baked and a lot of the time just had to sleep it off. She also didn't really understand what she was doing.

Which was why Sting was now bloodied, and bruised, and probably had a few broken things, and almost no time had passed for her, she hadn't noticed how long or badly she was beating him at all. But Dragon Slayers healed fast. Sting was just curled up on the ground now. The pleading he had made had stopped a while ago, and Rogue was holding his cat/frog thing protectively to his chest. Sting's cat/bird thing wandered up to him, and looked like he would cry. He had screamed for Lyra to stop, but in her inebriated state, she hadn't understood what he meant. Rufus just looked away. He didn't seem to want any part in this. Orga understood, he himself had afraid of her the first few times. But he had taken care of her before and he would again.

While Orga wrapped her in a towel he thought to himself. _I have God-Slayer magic, and it took her longer than this, when we first fought, to be so stoned. In fact, I don't remember her being this wasted after our fight, she could still take on Rufus! Forget fainting. What is God-Slayer magic compared to Dragon Slayer magic?_

"What-" Rogue swallowed horrified. "What was that? That terrifying grin, and he asked her to stop. Why didn't she stop?" He said, almost to himself. He hugged the Exceed /frog tighter.

"Listen boys." Orga said. "Lyra doesn't always understand what she was doing when she's…" He paused. "Drunk on M.E. She really doesn't realize what she's done. She's got the purest human heart in all of Sabertooth, despite her Void side effects. She really didn't mean it. I swear." He said.

Rufus played with his hat, twirling the gigantic feather. "When we first fought, she beat up Orga after taking about seven high energy God Slayer blows, and could still defeat me in her right mind." He turned to the Twins. "Your magic must really be something. Remember not to do that again." He warned.

Sting straightened, holding his very black eye. He coughed some blood, but most his minor cuts seemed to be gone already. "Now I get why she's in Sabertooth." He said after some stunned silence.

Rogue shrugged. "We're all in Sabertooth. What we must look like to the rest of Fiore." He muttered.

"We're going to win this year. We have to." Lector announced proudly. "We're Sabertooth!" The mages cheered.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch said helpfully. The boys chuckled.

Lyra turned over in her sleep, and the boys glanced at her.

"So…" Orga said, trying to get back to what they were supposed to do. "I guess it's me agains- _Sting_? _What are you doing_?"

The boy in question had disappeared and was coming back with a cup of water in his hands. Stupid little Dragon Slayer.

"Minerva told you that water wakes anyone up, didn't she?" Rufus said quietly. "I have a memory of her trying that on me."He was referring to what Minerva used to do when they wouldn't wake up night after they joined the guild. To her credit, everyone whose head she had dumped water on woke up.

Orga grinned. "Me too." That's when Sting let the water splash on Lyra. Lyra continued to sleep. The boys frowned confused.

"She didn't wake up? Did Minerva try it on her?"

"I think she introduced it to Minerva." Orga said.

The Twins laughed. "Wouldn't want to be there when that happened." They said. Minerva scared both of them.

"When what happened?" Lyra asked. The others jumped. She was awake.

"Did the water wake you?" Sting asked. She shook her head, but then regretted it as she almost hurled.

"Nope. Just-" she regained her balance. "-a little dizzy." She said, massaging her temple. Orga took that as his opening and attacked her with his boot covered foot. She didn't see it coming, and she took the kick, and was flung backward. She stood back up. She grinned.

"Magic hasn't worn off. Come at me Slayer." Then she turned to Sting with an apologetic smirk. "Sorry if I hurt you. Still flying a little." Lyra winked.

She then punched Orga. Somewhere along the way to her current state of mind, and condition she had put her leather gloves back on. Orga grinned and they fought. It was a simple fight, both of them coming out of it with their body mainly unharmed. Orga had a long scratch from a tree branch but that was about it. However, no matter how powerful Lyra was (or wasn't), Orga still beat her fair and square. After a few years of fighting a Void, you learn all her tricks. Including the small touches she tried: hair, leg, arm, cheek. Long distance was the best way to go (hence the tree branch incident). She was also fighting vertigo the entire time, and took a breather after Orga had beaten her so she could regain her balance, and not vomit.

"Wow." Rogue said impressed. "You beat her."

Rufus grinned, tilting his hat. "If my memory is correct, if anyone knows how to fight Lyra, it's Orga."

"You're not too bad yourself." Orga commented. Rufus blushed. "Now let me sing in victory!" He shouted.

A microphone appeared out of nowhere and he started to sing. Sting and Rogue covered their ears. Rufus smirked. Lyra laughed, but then joined in herself. Sting noticed that the voice she used to sing wasn't any better than his (which is to say, not good at all). Sting frowned on the inside. _Why was she holding back? _He wondered. After what he heard of Lyra in the guild, she was an amazing singer. Lyra started to sing so ridiculously, that they all ended up in the sand laughing. Rufus and Rogue were the first to recover, followed by Orga. It took a bit longer for Sting and Lyra to calm down.

When they finally did they looked around for a second. Then there was a large growl and everyone turned to Sting.

Lyra snorted. "Hungry?" She asked.

He blushed, and then scowled. He crossed his arms over his stomach protectively. "So? We've been training for a while, and it's hot, and I'm always hungry."

"Hey," Lyra said, raising her hands in surrender, "That's not a bad idea. After all, it's close to lunch time anyway." Lyra stood up, and brushed herself off. She and Rogue had dried by now so that the sand clinging to them had gotten less wet, and were brush-off-able. "Last one back loses the bet!" She warned, turning back to grin at the boys and then taking off.

Rogue sped after her. "There is _no_ way I'm losing again!" He shouted. Sting agreed loudly, and sprinted to catch up. Rufus and Orga exchanged grins then raced after them.

The last one to make it to the camp site was still Rogue. Rogue, again, had to do pushups only this time he had to do 50, which still proved to be a workout for him. Pushups just weren't his strong suit. While he did that, and Lyra, Orga, and Sting motivated (teased) him, Rufus cooked lunch (He was the only one who "had the memory of how to cook"). By the time Rogue finished, Rufus had food ready. The four teammates gratefully accepted the food, and thanked Rufus.

"You're welcome." He replied with a tilt of his hat.

They tore into the meat that Rufus had prepared, and they talked happily about their times in Sabertooth. Sting and Rogue started with their story of how they came to Saber. Then came Orga's turn of how he came. After that Rufus grinned, "I have a memory for the time that I came to Sabertooth-" and he continued on the time he joined. Finally it became Lyra's turn to divulge her story about joining Sabertooth. Something the Twins had never heard, and Orga and Rufus had heard many times. The first time when Lyra walked through that door for the first time, and Jiemma introduced his newest member to the entire guild.

"I joined Sabertooth six years ago, after I left Fairy Tail."

"You were in _Fairy Tail_?" Sting cried angry.

"Yeah, no, I mean, no, I mean…" She took a moment to organize her thoughts. "Six years ago I asked Master M to let me into Fairy Tail. He said-

_'No. No I can't let you in.'_

_'Why not?'Lyra asked angrily. 'You let people in all the time!'_

_'They're all wizards.'_

_'So am I! I use magic too!'_

_'Yes, but you're not a mage, you're the exact opposite. You're a witch hunter, a Void. Not magical, anti-magical. You're not joining. I'm sorry I can't let you, we are a wizard guild. There is nothing I can do.'_

_'But-' _

_'Hey Luce! Come on! We'll be late!' A boy shouted. Pink hair, blue flying cat. He ran past Lyra and bumped into her. 'Sorry, kid. See ya Gramps!' He and a blond left. But Lyra felt a small touch of the magic of the pink haired boy flow through her. __**'Hey you ok?' 'I'm fine Luce, come on! I'm all fired up now!'**__ It was unlike any that she had felt. She wanted more. She wanted-needed to be in this guild, a guild of Dragon Slayers._

_'That magic-'_

_'No child.'_

_'But Master M, please, please let me, you let the Dragon Slayer in.'_

_'He, they all use magic. You don't. You use the absence. You aren't classified as a wizard. I'm sorry. I'm sorry child, but there isn't any way I can let you in.' _

_Lyra gave up. She gave up on that idea. That hope. That she could be in a guild, after all if Master M had said no, Master B would have said no, Master G, Master O, they would all say no. Every single one. Lyra walked. She walked until her feet hurt. She walked and walke-_

_'Hey kid.'_

_Lyra twirled the blue strand of hair nervously. 'Yes mister?' She asked quietly. _

_He was tall, and he looked almost as old as Master M. He bent down and slapped Lyra's hand away from her hair. He grunted and she felt the rush of magic. He let go, and cocked his head and caught his breath. Then he grinned. _

_'What is it?' _

_'Nothing. Are you a wizard?' He asked. _

_She shook her head. 'Master M says that I'm a Void, I'm not a wizard. I'm the opposite.'_

_The man's grin grew until the beard and moustache on his face shifted. 'Master M huh? Makorav?'_

_'Yeah.'_

_'Did you ask to join his guild?' _

_'Yes!' the girl cried. She broke into tears. 'He rejected me! He let that-that Dragon Slayer in and he wouldn't let me!'_

_'The Salamander huh? Did you know I'm a guild master?'_

_'You-you are?'_

_'Yes. I'm Master Jiemma. The master of the guild Sabertooth.' Lyra continued to blubber. 'Cheer up girl. I can't have anyone crying in my guild.'_

_She sniffed confused. 'In- your guild?'_

_'Yes girl, in my guild. Sabertooth could use someone with your…abilities. Welcome to Sabertooth girl.' He stood up. They started walking and Master J turned to the girl. _

_'Right, what's your name?'He asked._

"Wow. That's a hell of a story." Sting said.

"Yeah. And if my memory is correct, the first words out of her mouth when she walked through that door: '_What up wizards? I'm the new girl. And I'll kick all your asses._'" Rufus said.

"And I did." Lyra said proudly.

"You kicked most of our asses, not Minerva's." Orga pointed out.

"That's only because Master J stopped us from going." Lyra replied.

They finished up with their food, and she stood. "Ok, next can we do some stretching, and then play a game."

They did as Lyra ordered, and then Lyra snatched Rufus's feather from his hat. "First person to take it from me wins." She said simply.

Rufus and Sting pounced. Lyra dodged them easily and hugged the feather to her chest. Orga came up behind her and sent a kick to her head. She took it and he made a grab for the feather, instead hitting her in an uncomfortable place for both of them, and she recovered by kicking him about a meter.

"Lyra, you said you had my feather. What do you mean?" Rufus asked. He pointed to a feather in his hat.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "That's your memory-make. So what?"

Rufus grimaced and she laughed. "Nice try Rufus. Better luck- GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAKIN CAT!" She shouted as Lector tried to grab for the feather but caught Lyra's bust instead. Lector screamed as Lyra punched the cat into a tree.

Orga and Rufus tried a joint attack. The hat-wielding wizard made a memory of Orga attacking Lyra, when Orga came from the other side and made another grab at the feather. His hand slipped and touched a small spot of Lyra's open skin. He back away and she felt a small refresh of energy. Memory-Orga disappeared.

Sting attacked from the sides, using a Holy-Light spell to blind Lyra. Lyra closed her eyes and didn't open them because when blinded they wouldn't be helpful. She felt a kick from the side, and a snatch for the feather. She tugged on it, and rolled backward, bumping into something hard, like a rock.

Someone else tried for the grab and Lyra kicked out and landed. The person on the other side of the kick squealed. Someone hit her on the head. She groaned and another pull. She tightened her grip again and felt a hand-like object near hers. She pulled it back and bit the hand (or so she hoped). This happened for long enough that Lyra's eyesight came back.

She didn't even feel the feather leave her hand. She did however see Rogue standing by the tree, waving the feather in his face. The others also noticed that she wasn't holding the feather and frowned. They also stopped attacking her. She blinked, looking from her empty hands to Rogue's now feather bearing hands.

"How-how did you-?"

"I used your shadow to give it to me. I am the Shadow Dragon Slayer."

"But-how? My Void-iness should have made that impossible." Lyra said.

"I didn't manipulate you I manipulated your shadow. It's not a Void too or something, right?" Rogue asked. He twirled the feather.

"Can I have my feather back now?" Rufus asked irritably. Rogue gave it back to him.

"So then who lost?" Sting asked.

"The three of you. Rogue won. And this time I'm thinking he can pick the punishment." Lyra said.

Rogue grinned wickedly. "Each of you has to do your best Frosch impression."

Orga, Sting, and Rufus looked at each other and then back at Rogue. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope."

"I have many memories for this. Rufus think so too." Rufus said in a high pitched voice.

"Sting thinks so too." Sting said in the same high pitched voice.

"Don't you guys know any other things that Frosch says?" Lyra asked.

"Like what?" Sting asked.

"Orga think so too." Orga echoed. The others laughed.

"What next?" Sting asked Lyra. She cocked her head to the side, and twirled her blue lock of hair.

"How about we wash up, and rest up? I think that's enough for today." The boys nodded.

"You guys wash up in the lake first." Lyra said, waving her hand. "I'll go after you." The boys nodded and dashed off to the lake. Lyra sat and looked up at the sky. After a minute or two she sighed.

"I'm bored." She complained.

Sting grinned and continued to splash Rogue. Rogue splashed him back. Orga and Rufus decided to actually wash themselves, and the Exceeds washed themselves as well. 20 minutes later and the boys still were in the lake. Lyra decided that they were taking too long so she walked over and find out what was taking them. She walked to the edge of the forest and the shore of the lake. When she got there she squealed, shut her eyes, and sat on the ground. She had just seen all four of the boys completely naked, and she kind of wanted to erase that.

"Hey, so do you think we're taking too long?" Rogue asked.

"Nah! We can take our time, besides the Void is probably asleep." Sting said with a shrug. Rogue frowned. _I'm not so sure. After all, she probably wants to bathe too. _However while Rogue was thinking that, Sting was wondering why Rogue was being so stuck up.

Rufus and Orga were just soaking. Lector and Frosch walked out and shook out their fur.

"Lector," Frosch said, "Lyra's pretty, isn't she?"

"Meh. I mean, maybe…" Lector shrugged. "Whatever, Sting hasn't said she is, so I dunno."

"Fro think so too."

"You just agreed with me, and said that she was pretty." Lector said.

"Fro think so too." Frosch repeated happily.

Lector shrugged. "Whatever."

"Sting, Rogue, are you guys done yet?" Orga called.

"Fine! We'll finish up." Sting called. Lyra continued to screw her eyes shut and hugged her legs to her chest, uncomfortable.

"Wait." Rogue said.

"What is it?" Sting asked.

"I smell someone. Sting, do you-?"

"Uh, Lyra?" Orga asked. The pink and blue haired girl looked up. The large green haired man bore down on her and she squealed. She scrambled away from them.

"What are you _doing_?" Rufus asked.

"I was- you were. _Taking too long. Went to check on you. Saw not good stuff._" She got out of her mouth. She closed her eyes again, trying to ward off the memory.

"Do we really look that bad?" Sting asked, looking down at his body.

"No. I mean, yes! I mean," Lyra collected her thoughts, "I mean it wasn't something I needed to see." She said. "Just please, leave so I can go bathe, and we can ignore what just happened."The boys looked between themselves and shrugged.

"Ok. See you back at camp." They said.

They left, and Lyra made her way to the lake, but was hesitant to slip naked into the lake in which all four of the boys (and their Exceeds) had recently been naked as well. But she ignored her stinginess and her paranoia and slipped out of her clothes and into the lake. She washed quickly and dried off as well, and put her clothes back on.

Afterward she walked back to the camp, leather jacket slung over her shoulder, her hair drying on her back and creating a damp spot. Rufus had cooked again. It was dark, and the others had created a fire and the smoke smiled upward. Lyra joined them on the fallen tree logs that they had set up around the fire, and pulled on her jacket as a breeze floated past.

"I'm cold." Frosch said quietly. He climbed into Lyra's clothed lap, and curled up to sleep. Lyra smiled softly, and put her gloved hands on his pink frog suit, rubbing it, trying to make him warmer.

"So what exactly is the Grand Magic Games?" Lyra asked. "I mean I've heard of it and what it does, but I've never seen it."

"Wait." Sting said confused. "You don't know what the GmG are?" He asked.

"I mean, they're races right? We've never won before. That's all I know." Lyra said.

"No one knows what the themes of the Games are until they start." Sting said.

"In my memory, the themes have been a race, a sharpshooting contest, and a dance battle, there have been others but I had not cared to track them." Rufus said.

"So we have no clue what we're training for?" Lyra asked.

"Not really. Though we do know that there are certain guilds joining." Orga said.

"Like?"

"Mermaid Heel for one, Fairy Tail of course," Rogue said. Lyra grimaced, _how the guild had shrunk. How the guild had lowered themselves. Too bad you didn't have a powerful _not-wizard _to take care of Fairy Tail, huh Master M_. "I think Lamia Scale is as well, and possibly Blue Pegasus."

"Hmph." Lyra said, with a grin. "They're no match for us." She pet Frosch. "Isn't that right Frosch, sweetie?" She cooed. Frosch was fast asleep, and oblivious to the world around him.

"Of course we're going to win! We have the mighty Sting on our team, as well as Rogue, and, well," Lector thought for a minute, "the rest of you."

"Lector, I'm so glad you think so highly of us." Lyra retorted.

"Of course I do! You're on the great Sting's te-" Lector was interrupted.

"Oh Lector, for your sake, please shut up." Lyra advised, the others chuckled happily.

The night was cold enough for the five of them to sleep in sleeping bags without sweating, but without being cold. They slipped into clothes to sleep in, or out of clothes so they would sleep. Lyra dressed in shorts and a tank top (carefully not touching anyone on her way into the sleeping bag). Sting donned shorts and no shirt. Rogue in a black tank top, and black shorts. Orga into shorts, and stayed with no shirt. Rufus changed into a flowing nightgown, and braided his long blond hair for sleeping.

They crawled into bed, and slept.

_Sting glanced at Weisslogia. The large white dragon lowered his head, and Sting hugged his muzzle. _

_"Sting, child, what is wrong?"_

_"I don't feel good." The small Dragon Slayer said. _

_"Does your tummy hurt?" Weisslogia asked. Little Sting nodded. Weisslogia beckoned Sting to come closer to him, near his belly._

_"It's alright, child. Come and sleep, when you wake up you will feel better." Weisslogia said. Little Sting slowly fell asleep. _

_ "Sting?" Sting pet Lector. Lector rolled over and held up one of his paws to Sting's hand. "Do you miss Weisslogia?"_

_"Yeah." Sting said sadly. "But," he brightened, "I'll move on. I'll be fine." He announced. "I'll become the greatest Dragon Slayer ever! Just you watch!" Suddenly Sting became tired. Sting's breathing hurt. Sting fe_lt like he was drowning. His eyes widened. A hand lay on his chest. Lyra had turned over in her sleep, and Sting couldn't breathe. _How long had her hand been eating his magic energy? _He wondered. He shook and then he barked out in fear. The other boys woke up fast. Lyra was still fast asleep. They collectively freaked out a bit and got Lyra's hand off of Sting, and back into Lyra's sleeping bag. Lyra still hadn't woken up.

"I don't think you should sleep next to her again." Rogue offered quietly.

"No kidding." Sting whispered.

"I nominate Rufus on the grounds he's sleeping in a nightie." Orga said. The others grinned and chuckled quietly.

"Fine." Rufus griped (he wasn't happy about being woken up) as he switched sleeping bags. As he turned over to get comfortable, "Chickens," he claimed grumpily. The Sabertooth Grand Magic Games team went back to sleep, ready for their second day.


	5. Training Day 2

Lyra awoke to someone poking her with a very, very long stick. She lazily opened her eyes and glared at the two mages. Sting had somehow convinced Orga that this was going to be a great way to wake up the Witch Hunter. Sting, unsurprisingly, was also very, very, very wrong. Lyra proceeded to yank the stick away from them and beat the two of them with it.

"Oi! Lyra!" Rogue called. Lyra turned to him grumpily.

"Oi! Rogue!" She mimicked.

"Stop hitting our team mates and eat some breakfast." Rogue ordered. Lyra shrugged, and dropped the stick. She plopped down in front of the meat that Rufus was cooking. Rufus handed her a sliver of meat and she ripped into it. Lector waddled over to Lyra and poked her covered leg. Lyra looked at him.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You eat weird." Lector said.

"And you're a cat. What's your point?" Lyra asked dryly. Lector glared at her, she glared at Lector. Sting scooped Lector up and put him on his shoulders.

"So whose turn is it today?" Rogue asked.

"Yours," Rufus said. Rogue thought for a few minutes, eating his meat slowly.

"We're moving again." He decided as he licked his fingers clean. He stood and stretched. Lyra finished her food and followed him to the tent. They started to pack it up while the others finished their breakfast.

They started to trek through the woods and past the lake. Rogue led them on without telling him where he wanted to go. When they reached a ravine between two mountains Rogue let them rest for lunch. They went fishing, and then ate the fish they had caught for lunch.

"-so then I punch him in the face. Out like a light, barely had any M.E. left in him." Lyra was saying. The others laughed except Orga, who dropped his fish, eyes widening. Rufus slowly placed his fish on the ground when he looked behind Lyra, and Rogue did the same. Sting continued laughing until he saw what was standing behind Lyra.

_What?_ Lyra mouthed.

"If you move I stab this girl in the neck. Understand?" Someone said from behind Lyra. Lyra felt a prick on her neck.

"Well, shit." Lyra said.

"You." The bandit pointed to Rogue. "Get all of your Jewel and give it to me."

Rogue looked at the bandit. "Are you sure? It's a lot of Jewel." Rogue stalled. He was waiting for Rufus to cast a memory spell. Rufus casted his spell, and told Lyra to duck. Lyra did and the man stayed still, it seemed as though he still thought she was there (it seemed that way because to the bandit it was).

Orga said one of his own spells and the bandit was flown backward.

"We should go." Rogue said. Everyone turned to him. "Now! Before more come."

"You really don't know how this works do you?" Orga asked surprised.

"What do ya mean?" Sting asked.

"How long have you guys been in Sabertooth?" Lyra asked rhetorically. "This ain't Fairy Tail. When someone jumps us we don't go running back to the Guild."

"We make sure we don't again." Rufus finished Lyra's threat. The Twin Dragon Slayers shared a look. Orga turned to Lyra.

"He attacked you. Would you like the honors?" He inquired, though he already knew the answer. Lyra laughed.

"Thought you'd never ask." Lyra wasn't the nicest of the Sabertooth. The most innocent, the happiest, yes. But the nicest? The newbies were always the nicest, and that was because they didn't know better yet. Lyra walked over to the fallen bandit and bent down to his level. He was conscious and he was shaking he was so terrified.

"Look lady. I didn't mean to- I didn't know you were wizards-" Lyra stripped her right glove off slowly. His eyes widened. He was petrified. He didn't know what this wizard was going to do to him. "I swear! I thought it would be fine! Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

"What gang are you in?" She asked slowly. She ran a finger down his nose. His eyes widened as he became more scared, and his pupils dilated as Lyra started to drain the limited M.E. from his body.

"T-t-the f-f-f-Fiore Citizens." He stuttered. "Please, my m-m-m-members n-need m-m-me." He spoke as his face became more and more fatigued from the M.E. drain. Rogue noticed the script F with a large print C surrounding it on the bandit's face. It must have been his gang's symbol.

"Do they now?" She asked sinisterly as she stroked his cheek. "Are they going to be looking for you?"

"Y-y-yeah. A-a-a-are you going to let me g-g-go?" He asked.

Lyra lifted her hand from his face, pretending to think about it. "No. But I'll make sure they know where to find me if they want to finish the job." Lyra snapped. She took off her boot and sock and kicked him in the face. He screamed, and then he was silent.

The Dragon Slayers looked at the Witch Hunter incredulously. "Is-is he dead?" Rogue asked. Lyra shrugged. She took a stick from the ground and started to draw in the dirt. She wrote with a stick.

_3, Lyra of _instead of writing Sabertooth out she drew the Guild Symbol. She dropped the stick, and turned merrily to the others, putting her shoe back on.

"So, where are we going?" She asked. Rogue blinked out of his stunned haze, and pointed to the mountain ahead of them.

"Up there." He said. Lyra crossed her arms uncomfortably.

"Let's go." Orga said, not noticing the sudden decline in Lyra's happy demeanor. They hiked up the base of the mountain. Lyra put her glove back on and shivered as they climbed higher. And higher. And higher.

About a third up the way to the camping space (which was a little more than half the way to the top) Lyra started lagging behind. No one noticed too greatly until another third of the way.

"Hey, Lyra, you coming?" Rogue asked when the Void stopped. She shook her head, sitting on the floor.

"Lyra, come on." She shook her head. She was trembling.

"Lyra…" Rogue groaned. Sting walked over to the Witch Hunter and put a hand on her covered shoulder.

"Are you OK?" He asked. She nodded but didn't move.

"We have to keep going if we want to get to the camp site before dark." He said softly. She shook her head.

"Lyra?" He asked, gently, almost sweetly this time. "Can you walk?" She nodded.

"Will you walk?" She nodded again. He pulled her to her feet and coaxed her into moving. Soon they were moving at their own pace again. They had climbed a little less than half of the way up. They reached a cavern inside of the cave on the road to their site. The cavern was dark with light lacrima dotting the way. It had deep hollow canyon with a small, barely supportable bridge. Rogue looked at the people behind him. They seemed hesitant to cross. Rogue had to show them it was easy to cross.

"Here's the bet." He said. This way he could get them across. "Last one to get over does what I say." Rogue ordered. He walked across the bridge backwards to show them how easy it was. Sting, knowing that Rogue's innocent exterior was just that: exterior, whispered something to Lector who nodded and grabbed the White Dragon Slayer with his tail as the Exceed flew him over the hollow basin. Orga made his way across carefully, he was a big man and wanted to be sure he wouldn't fall. Rufus looked at the remaining member hesitant. He didn't want to start walking then be pushed off by Lyra, she was competitive like that. Once Orga was across Rogue called to the two wizards, (or wizard and Void).

"Last one over has to do what I say!" He reminded.

Sting looked at his Twin. "And Rogue isn't as sweet as he appears to be." Sting warned. Lector laughed, and pushed his friend lightly.

"And you would _know_." He said giggling. Sting blushed and pushed his Exceed back.

"Shut up!" He hushed, embarrassed.

Rufus turned to Lyra, he was so obsessed with getting across that he didn't notice that Lyra was shaking. Sting did though. No one should ever say that Sting is oblivious because, yeah he doesn't understand _many_ feelings, but pure unadulterated fear is one of them. He saw that _that_ was what Lyra was feeling right now. Rufus made a dash for it. He made it across, laughing.

Everyone was happy. They laughed that now the great Lyra was on the other side. The one who would need to do what Rogue wanted. They laughed and taunted her because that was what friends and colleagues do, at least in Sabertooth.

"Come on Lyra! Come on!" Rogue coaxed.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch said happily.

"You're in so much shit either way." Orga stated. Lyra swallowed, and put a tentative foot on the bridge. It held and she started running across the thin bridge.

The bridge didn't hold for long and suddenly she was falling.

And falling.

And

Falling

There are times when adrenaline rushes through your body. Sometimes it isn't adrenaline. It's fear, or love, or hate, or sadness. But it still fills you to the brim and it hurts.

Sometimes you don't feel anything at all.

When Lyra fell through the bridge and down into the dimly lit cavern beneath her, she didn't feel anything at all. She heard screams, whether they were hers or not she wasn't sure. She just remembered screaming.

She also remembered the strong tails that surrounded her waist. They hauled her up to the platforms in the cave and she heard flapping. But she looked down and her vision became hazy. She felt out of control and she knew that the screams were hers this time. She thrashed in the Exceeds' grasps. She whipped her body around like a snake terrified. Just as afraid as the man she had hurt only an hour or two earlier. She screamed as she lashed back and forth.

"Lyra! Stop!" Sting warned.

"I… can't hold on… much longer…" Lector struggled.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch complained. The two of them holding the Witch Hunter with difficulty as she moved around, as if she was shaking off invisible insects.

"Lyra! _Lyra_!" Rogue shouted. Lector and Frosch couldn't hold any longer and Lyra fell. This time she felt fear. Lector and Frosch had risen high above the platform that the other Sabertooth members were on. When Lyra fell this time she fell onto the hard, cold, grey stone.

Lyra heard the calls of her fellow members. She felt the floor beneath her, and the soft hands of a Dragon Slayer carefully pick her up. She felt a cold, thick fluid drip out of her mouth and over the side of her face. She saw faces above her and heard them speaking. The spots in front of her eyes danced and she felt sick. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. And now all she wanted to do was sleep.

Sting and Rogue ran to their fallen comrade. "Lyra! Lyra! Can you hear me?" Sting shouted. The Void didn't answer. Sting fell to his knees beside her. He pushed her, wondering if she was alive. Her eyes were fogged over and blood had started to leak out of her mouth and back. Rogue fell next to Sting.

"Lyra! Lyra! _Lyra_!" He shouted. He put fingers to her neck. "She has a pulse. Rufus!" Rufus sashayed over. "Rufus, she isn't dead, but she isn't moving." Rogue said.

Rufus put his own fingers to her neck and nodded. "I have some medical supplies but I can't apply them until we're settled."

"Can I carry her?" Sting asked.

Rufus shrugged, "without injury to her, sure. But not too much juggling. I don't know how much shit has screwed her spine." Rufus ordered. Sting dug his hands under Lyra's paralyzed body. He grunted as he lifted her up. They continued on the way up the mountain. They continued until the camp site. Lyra didn't move.

"Did you know?" Sting asked, wheezing for Lyra's weight.

"Know what?" Orga responded.

"That Lyra was afraid of heights." Rufus and Orga stopped where they were.

"Afraid of heights?" Rufus asked. "That information is not in my memory."

"Are you kidding? She's terrified of them."

"_That's_ why she froze on our way up the mountain." Orga said, realization dawning on him.

"Yeah." Sting said, as though it was obvious.

They continued climbing. Lyra switched from Sting's arms to Rogue's and because Rogue isn't as strong as he looks, she went to Orga who carried her until they stopped. They came to their camp site and saw a few more wizards around, training also. Orga asked around for any healer mages but no one could help. Sting sat in the tent, watching Rufus apply the healing ointments to Lyra's back. It had started to bleed a bit from falling on rocks. Her head was partially cracked as well. Rufus wasn't actually touching Lyra for obvious reasons.

"Hey, Rufus…"

"Yes?" The memory-make wizard asked, annoyed.

"Since Lyra takes M.E. and becomes high and like puts her in a state of-"

"Is there a point to this Sting?"

"Yeah. Can't our M.E. help heal her or something?" Sting asked. Rufus stopped rubbing the ointment (indirectly) on Lyra's back.

"Heal her?"

"Yeah. Can it do that? Or am I making this up?"

Rufus shook his head, confounded. "I. I don't know. I know that I am not going to waste my Magic Energy if it doesn't work though."

Sting rolled his eyes. "Baby." He decided, he bent beside the Witch Hunter and placed his naked hand on her back. He felt the effect immediately. His chest felt heavy, his eyes hurt. He called out to Rogue.

"Yo! Rogue! Get over here!" Sting ordered. The Shadow Dragon Slayer made his way to his Twin. Sting took his hand off her back, he felt fuzzy and spots danced in front of his eyes.

Lyra's breathing became easier. Her open eyes became less foggy and blinked a few times. Soon she just closed them as the wounds on her head and back closed as well from the M.E. It looked as though she had just fallen asleep, except her breathing was still heavy. Rufus took some water from a helpful co-camper and wiped the dried blood from her open mouth.

"I think she needs some more." Rufus said. Sting turned to Rogue.

"More what? What did you do?" Rogue asked.

"I just gave her some Magic Energy." Sting said.

"And that _healed_ her?"

"Yeah. But she needs more. Just put your hand on her back."

"Isn't that kinda weird…?" Rogue asked awkwardly. Sting rolled his eyes, and grabbed his Twin's hand. He shoved the hand onto Lyra's back and both Rogue and Lyra shook from the amount of pent up M.E. that flowed between them. Lyra's eyes opened. They were dilated, and wide. She pushed herself away from the boys surrounding her. She covered her naked chest with her arms.

"Where is my shirt?" She demanded rather than asked.

"R-right here." Rufus stuttered. He was scared from the fire in Lyra's eyes that the Void was going to hurt him. He passed the balled up, blood dotted shirt to Lyra, who ordered the other mages to turn around and pulled the shirt on. Her Sabertooth Guild Symbol was shining with sweat. She wasn't feeling as good as she pretended she did. But she was awake enough to realize what her sudden rush of adrenaline was because of. She didn't want any more M.E.

She coughed, and took a moment to breathe. Magic can only heal someone so much. She knew she had just made the cut between healable, and death.

She turned to Rogue. "So?" She asked, feigning her usual cheeriness. "What do I owe ya?" She asked.

Rogue just hugged her, careful not to touch skin-to-skin. "Never. Ever. Die on me."

Lyra laughed. "You sure? That's a waste of a bet." She warned. Rogue didn't answer. She smiled.

"I won't die on you." She promised.

Sting rolled his eyes. He slapped Rogue's back. "You're such a mushball." He said.

"Come on Dragon Slayer, tell me for a minute there you weren't worried." Lyra teased.

Sting laughed. "About you Witch Hunter? Why would I?" He returned. Orga poked his head in the tent calling Rogue's name, but was happily greeted with an awkward hug from Lyra.

"Rogue, when are we eating? I'm hungry." The mage announced after his and Lyra's hug.

"Me too Rogue." Sting added.

"Also me." Rufus said.

Sting turned to the mage incredulously. "How are you hungry? You didn't carry a person up here."

"Neither did you."

"I did for most of the way! And believe me it was no small feat."

"Are you calling me fat?" Lyra demanded.

"Wha-no!" Sting said confused. "I mean, kind of."

"You little shit!" Lyra cried. She whipped her leg around, kicking Sting in the chest. The Dragon Slayer fell backwards on his rear. Lyra put her nose in the air and stalked out of the tent. Only to walk back in after seeing how high up they were.

Rufus made the team food and they ate inside (because Lyra wouldn't go out). Afterward Rogue ordered them to get a good night's sleep. Lyra fell asleep quickly, with Sting right behind her. Rufus and Orga went outside to practice magic and talk without disturbing the others there.

"Are you going to make Lyra train out here?" Rufus asked softly while dodging Orga's attack.

Orga shook his head, and cast another spell. "I think we won't get her out of that fucking tent as long as we're up here."

"Did you know she was afraid of heights?"

"No. Did you?"

Rufus shook his head. "No. I didn't think anybody knew. I guess we all thought she was invincible so any thought of her having phobias was just ridiculous."

"You know, sometimes I even forget that we're just mages. And just because we're mages doesn't mean we are unkillable."

"Well, you're less killable than most of us." Rufus stated. Orga rolled his eyes and was flung into the mountain wall. Rufus walked over to the larger man and with a flourish helped him to his feet.

"Let's go to bed." Orga said. Rufus nodded.

"After you." He said, nodding to the tent where the rest of the team was sleeping.


	6. Training Day 3

Orga ordered everyone back down the mountain, and even though no one wanted to go back down because they had just climbed up they didn't complain. After climbing down they set up camp and began training again. Orga had the group have a Battle Royale.

The battle ended with Sting and Rogue both needing to recharge for a day, and Rufus needing a new hat. Orga had won on account of Lyra being really bad at stealth. Word to the wise, being stealthy does not mean that you can start whistling.

They laughed and ate and when the fire died and the stars shone brightly in the sky it was obvious to everyone it was time for bed. They said good night, and Lyra told the others to sleep. She wasn't tired yet. They did and she walked to the mountain. She ran her hand across the rough surface and took a breath. _You are not afraid._ She thought. _You are a Void. A Witch Hunter. You are not afraid. _

_'What's wrong with her?' Minerva asked spitefully. _

_Orga shrugged. 'Dunno. She's the new girl right?'_

_The thing wrong with Lyra was the fact that Minerva and Orga were training on the high poles, and they were pressuring her into joining them. _

_Rufus swung his covered arm around Lyra's neck. 'Ignore them. I'm Rufus.' He said dipping his hat. Lyra raised an eyebrow. _

_'Uh huh.' Lyra moved away from Rufus and crossed her arms. 'So?'_

_'I was trying to be nice but I guess not.' Rufus sniffed disdainfully. _

_'I don't need nice. I need to get better. If I wanted nice I woulda joined Fairy Tail.' Lyra hissed. Rufus sighed. _

_'Whatever.' He said, dismissing her by waving his hand. Lyra growled and she tackled him. _

"You OK?" Lyra turned to Sting leaning against the rock behind her.

"Why do you care?" Lyra teased. Sting blushed and crossed his arms.

"I don't. I just um… I don't want this to affect us winning the games." Sting said proudly. Lyra grinned.

"Oh don't worry. We'll win."


	7. Welcome to Crocus!

The two weeks passed quickly and by the end team Sabertooth were more than happy. They were ready to win so they travelled to Crocus.

"Woah!" Sting cried as he saw the large city around them.

"Woah is right!" Rogue agreed.

Crocus was the capital and a huge city. It was made of hundreds of stone buildings and a huge palace for the king and the princess. Flowers covered the city and made the cold grey stones burst with color. Rogue and Sting's noses were overcome with smells of food, people, and flowers. But they ignored it by surrounding themselves with the feel and influence of Crocus. The capital of Fiore, for lack of a better word, was magical.

"Hey! Look it's Sabertooth!" Someone called. The five team members looked around as a crowd started to form. Right, they were almost celebrities because of the Games.

"Wow! I never knew they had a girl competing!"

"They're not that great."

"Yeah! Blue Pegasus is totally going to win this year."

"No way! Mermaid Heel is!"

"I think Fairy Tail is gonna win!"

"No way!"

"Are you insane? Fairy Tail sucks!"

"Wow! Sabertooth is sexy!"

"I know. I hear they're having both of the Dragon Slayers compete!"

"They aren't that powerful."

"Yeah! Sabertooth sucks!" The last two comments were met with a yell of pride form Sting. He'd be damned if he let anyone steal his thunder or slander his guild.

"If you think we suck so much, why don't you challenge us and see for yourself how awesome we are!" Sting cried.

"Yeah! No one can defeat the mighty Sting!" Lector agreed, backing up his friend. Rufus sighed.

"I don't want to get my hands dirty right now." He complained.

Orga slapped him on the back. "Come on Rufus! It'll be fun!" He said.

Rogue crossed his arms. "I do not believe this is a great idea." He stood farther away from the rest of the team.

"Come on Rogue." Lyra giggled. She slithered her arm through his and pulled him towards the others. "It'll be fun." Rogue sighed similarly to how Rufus did but allowed himself to be pulled into the chaos.

A wizard stepped up to the challenge. His Quatro Cerberus tattoo decorated his naked back. He was tall, with tan skin and white hair. His tiny irises were red and he wore gloves but no shirt. He had a spiked collar surrounding his neck and headphones covering his ears. He wore red patched up pants with two large purple pockets on both side. He flexed his biceps and his buddies behind him joined in the flexing and began to cheer him on. "I'll take up that challenge!" He roared.

Rufus sighed, and tilted his hat. "If I remember this man's skills correctly, I believe that the weakest of us can win."

"So you're up Rufus." Lyra joked.

The wizards roared. "I am Jeager! I will wi-"

The words weren't even out of his mouth before he lay unconscious on the floor. Rufus grinned under his hat and cracked his knuckles. "Who's next?" He asked.

Lyra laughed and nudged him with her shoulder. "A little slow, but good job!"

The stunned crowd broke into applause. "Yay Sabertooth!"

"Forget what I said about Fairy Tail! Sabertooth rocks!"

"Awesome, isn't it?" Lyra asked her friends. "They _love_ us!"

Sting and Lector bumped fists and waved to the adoring crowd. _I could get used to this. _Lyra thought.

"Team Sabertooth." The name boomed through the rest of the large crowd of spectators and a shiver ran through the team as their Master stomped towards them. Lyra found herself standing in front of her friends. No way Master J would go through her. He raised a hand and Lyra flinched. What she didn't expect was the large hand intended for a hand shake.

"Huh?" The question escaped Lyra before she could silence her confusion.

"We'll see if you are any good. If you lose you know what's coming to you." Master said. It was his was of a compliment. Lyra awkwardly took the large hand. "Don't lose you fucking trash." Master J growled as he turned on his heel and stalked away.

"Woah. I've never heard him sound even close to complimenting someone."

"Well," Lyra shrugged. "I'm a little different than others. He appreciates that."

"_Suuuure_…" Sting said skeptically.

The team made their way to the designated inn, the Honeybone. Because so few guilds were competing this year each team from the guilds shared an inn. The teams were called together in the lounge and they sat as a small pumpkin man met them there.

Team Sabertooth sat in the back of the room as the rest of the wizards filed in. First came Mermaid Heel, an all female guild. Their five members sat prettily on the lounge chairs and Sting and Rufus's attention turned to them.

"Ooo." Sting said with a grin. "They're hot."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Aww Lyra, are you _jealous_?" Lector teased.

Lyra punched him and Lector ran behind his friend. "Save me Sting!" He cried.

"Lyra, what's the point in beating up a cat?" Sting asked, ignorant to the situation.

Lyra clenched her fist. "He started it!"

The next guild to arrive was Fairy Tail. Lyra watched the team warily. She knew them all by name from them being in Sorcerer Weekly so often, Bisca, Laki, Max, Reedus, and Warren. Man, were they doomed. Lyra giggled.

"What's so funny?" Orga asked.

"Fairy Tail used to be so great. Look at it now." She nodded towards the group of five. Bisca was cleaning a gun while Laki and Reedus chatted. Max and Warren went straight to the bar and ordered heavy drinks.

Orga chuckled in agreement. "Pathetic."

The next into the room were Blue Pegusus, and following them were Lamia Scale.

"Aren't Quatro Cerberus the other guild?" Lyra asked.

"Nah. They aren't actually competing but they wanted to. Twilight Ogre is the other competing."

"Seriously?" Sting asked. "Those idiots?"

Said idiots walked through the door and shouted in joy, the Fairy Tail guild crawled out of their way and tried not to make eye contact. A pathetic guild being terrified of an even more pathetic guild.

"This'll be a landslide." Sting announced pompously.

Lyra had to agree though. This Grand Magic Games would be a piece of cake.

"Where are the guild masters?" Someone from Mermaid Heel asked.

Frosch attached himself to Lyra's leg. "What's wrong Frosch?"

"That man said he would eat me!" The cat cried, big fat wet tears leaked from his eyes. He pointed at someone from Twilight Ogre. Rogue narrowed his eyes and stepped towards the accused.

"What did you say to my Frosch?" He growled.

The man raised an eyebrow. He wore a spiked headband holding down his black poofy hair. His large mouth quirked up into a smirk. "I said I might eat him."

Rogue grabbed his red shirt and pulled it close to him. "If you ever speak like that to my exceed again I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill me?"

"Very slowly. I will ki-"

"Woah woah woah! Now hold you horses young man!" The pumpkin said. Rogue growled and glared at him.

"What?"

"No fighting! No fighting!" He cried, waving his little arms. Rogue stepped away from the man from Twilight Ogre, and walked back to his guildmates. Lyra petted Frosch's head and Frosch purred in her arms.

"Welcome teams!" The pumpkin greeted. He stood on the bar next to where the Fairy Tail members drowned themselves in drinks. "This Grand Magic Games will begin at 12:00 tonight! You will have to each be in your rooms or this round won't work! I encourage you to mingle but any and all fighting will quality for expulsion from the Games! Your rooms are marked! Have fun!"

"Come on." Orga said, herding his fellow members to their rooms. The three rooms were connected by one common room/lounge area.

"I call single room!" Lyra shouted gleefully as she ran to the open room with a single bed.

The boys grumbled about arrangements and divvied up the remainder beds. Lyra took a boiling hot shower and changed into pajamas. She then relaxed in the common room. She was painting her nails out of boredom when the door creaked open to the Twins freshly showered. They lounged on the couches and spread out. Rogue was reading a book while Frosch napped. Lector lay on Frosch's back, joining him in sleep and Sting had found a bouncy ball someplace and was bouncing it off the ceiling. Neither Orga nor Rufus joined the Dragon Slayers and Witch Hunter.

"I'm hungry." Sting complained.

"Then go out to the lounge," Rogue responded without even looking at him.

"I don't wanna move." Sting complained.

"Oh for heaven's sakes, I'll go." Lyra gave in, rolling her eyes. She stood and walked into the bar and was greeted with every guild master.

* * *

**Hey everyone. So I realize that my second to last update was a lifetime ago so I've decided to do a few really close updates. I have no idea how long it'll take me to update after these though because I'm moving, :'(. **

**Hope everyone's had a nice day! **

**~ Diana **


	8. And the Games Begin

**Hey guys, so you'll see a lot of wizard names in this chapter that you don't recognize... yeah that's because I realized that the guilds I picked don't have many options for wizards so I had to make some up... Also it's canon that a handful of wizards in X791 had been in the games for the first time so they were out too, not to mention the entire Tenrou Team couldn't be in this :(. *sighs* who said writing fanfic was easy.**

**~Diana**

* * *

The door opened and quiet extended across the recently loud barhall. Lyra ordered a platter for three, she was hungry and figured even if Rogue didn't want to eat Sting would eat for two. She smiled and sashayed over to Master J. So if they were watching her, better give them a show. Show them all what they missed. She took a napkin and wrapped her hand in it before laying it on Master J's shoulder. Master J raised an eyebrow.

"Evening Master J." She nodded to the others he was talking with. "Master B, Master B, Master G."

Master J ignored Lyra, but the others didn't.

"L-lyra!" Master B of Pegasus cried. He clasped his hands together. "I um- Wow! You've grown up well, haven't you?"

Lyra grinned coyly. "Sure have! And all thanks to Master J's encouragement."

"Encouragement? You're in his guild?" Master O from Lamia Scale croaked. "I think someone will need to spin!"

"Yeah Master O."

Master Macao stood from his place by the bar. "Who're you?" He asked.

"Name's Lyra. Who're you?" Lyra asked, holding her hand out to the Master. Master Macao was obviously from Fairy Tail, his symbol was proudly shining on his right arm even though, being from Fairy Tail and all, it had nothing to shine about. Mater Macao reached for the hand but Master B from Pegasus slapped it away.

"Aw, Master B why'd you go and do that?" Lyra pouted. Master B glared at her through his sweet exterior.

"You know exactly why, young lady!" He chided.

"Master Macao of the Fairy Tail guild, this is Lyra Young of Sabertooth. She's a Witch Hunter."

"A what?" He asked, confused.

"I'll explain later, but the point is no touching."

"Order's up!" The barmaid called.

Lyra skipped over to the bar and took the platter of food. "You're no fun Master B. And Master M of Fairy Tail, watch out." Lyra said with a wink. "Cuz Sabertooth's gonna beat your ass!" She gave a grand wave to the other guild masters. "Say 'hi' for me to the _real_ Master M when he comes back! He's gonna be so sad to miss this!" She opened the door and swaggered back to their room, food in hand.

"You look happy." Sting observed, then something else grabbed his attention. "FOOD!" He and Lector attacked the grub and Lyra took a piece herself.

"Lyra always looks happy." Rogue retorted without looking away from his book. "Wait is that-" He glanced up and sniffed the air. His mouth began to water as he saw his favorite food on the platter. He snatched it up before Sting laid his eyes on it. They ate and afterwards Rogue excused himself for a small nap. Lyra looked at the time, 10:45. She had a little more than an hour.

"Seriously," Sting asked. "Why were you so happy when you came back?"

"Because I shocked Fairy Snail's master, and his face made me happy." She said. Lyra giggled. She stared at the ceiling of the common room. Sting laid beside her and had his eyes closed in a restful position. "You know I should probably change out of pajamas." She thought out loud. "Sting," She called before she walked into her room, self-doubt snaked into her mind.

"Yeah Witch Hunter?" He asked as he peeked open an eye from his lounging state.

"Promise me we'll win."

Sting laughed. "Come on, Witch Hunter. Have you met our team? We'll kick their asses."

"Yeah we will!" Lector exclaimed, lifting his fist into the air.

"Right." Lyra laughed. "Of course." We'll kick their asses no doubt. She was pulling on her jacket when there was a scream from the common room.

"What?" Lyra ran, grabbing her gloves on the way out.

"What was that scream?" Rogue asked. He, Orga, and Rufus had joined Sting and Lyra in the common room. A small door that went to nowhere, it seemed, stood in the middle of the room.

"I have no idea." Sting said. "I didn't scream."

"It was simply to get your attention!" The small pumpkin man suddenly appeared and gestured to the door. "But now that we have it! Everybody in!"

Lyra warily opened the door and saw that it did indeed go somewhere. Through the door was a long and wide, white-walled path. At the end of the path was a big banner that proclaimed 'GOAL!' A white gate of magic prevented the contestants from beginning the race. Lyra and the others wandered through and stopped before the white magic gate.

"Woah…" Sting said in awe as he stared up. They seemed to be in an arena. Men and women stared down at them from the stands and they cheered.

"And last but not least, Teeeaaammm Sabertooth!" Their name was called and they heard the screams and roars of cheering spectators.

"I could get used to this." Orga said smiling.

Rufus grinned. "We all could."

"This is how this game is going to work. Every team is going to race to the end. First team to have all their members cross will get ten points. Second will get eight, third will get six and so on. Any type of magic can be used! No other rules! Have fun!" The pumpkin man said. "On your marks! Get set! _Gooooo_!"

The teams ran. "Remember!" Sting called as he made the others eat dust, "use any magic!"

"Duck!" Rogue warned the others.

They did as Sting turned towards all other players in his wake and cried: "WHITE DRAGON ROOOAAAR!" He shouted. The laser roar blew over Lyra's head as she dropped to the ground and she heard screams behind her. She began running and ripped off her gloves, just in case.

"_That was Sting Eucliffe of Sabertooth! Sting is a White Dragon Slayer which means he can use Dragon Slayer magic! Wow that was awesome! Sabertooth is bringing out their big guns this year! And Sabertooth is in the lead!_" The announcer narrated. "_But not to be left out are the members of Mermaid Heel! They seem to be gaining on Sabertooth. And Arana Webb from Mermaid Heel is using her Web Shot!_" Rufus jumped out of the way and shouted a spell back in her direction.

"_And Rufus Lore of Sabertooth spends no time stalling. He just sends a spell right back at her!_ _Here comes Lamia Scale! Yuka Suzuki is in the thick of Mermaid Heel! Watch out ladies!_" The race continued. Lyra saw the wizards that were going ahead of her. One of the Blue Pegasus pretty boys danced in front of her. She grinned and dashed by him, bumping him with her shoulder. Her fingers itched to touch his skin but she didn't. Save her power for later. He tripped and fell over acting as a tripping stone for the next five wizards, one each from the other teams.

The race continued and there were three _pop_s as Bisca of Fairy Tail shot three wizards. Orga turned around and let out a black lightening spell. Lyra was hit was a few spells but the turned into her own energy and she ran faster.

"_AND LYRA YOUNG IS THE FIRST ACROSS THE FINISH LINE!_" Lyra waved to the cheering crowd and smiled at them.

She turned back to the rest of her teammates and yelled to them. "Come on guys! You can do it!"

Rufus was next. After that Sherry from Lamia Scale crossed the finish line. Soon everyone was crossing, each name was announced with as much enthusiasm as the last.

"_Laki of Fairy Tail! Hikibi of Blue Pegasus! Reedus of Fairy Tail! Orga of Sabertooth! Both of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth! And SABERTOOTH IS THE FIRST TEAM ACROSS! Ren of Blue Pegasus! Yuka of Lamia Scale! Arana of Mermaid Heel! Beth of Mermaid Heel! Bisca of Fairy Tail! Toby of Lamia Scale! Risley of Mermaid Heel! DeZille of Blue Pegasus! Kagura of Mermaid Heel! Aura of Mermaid Heel! MERMAID HEEL IS THE SECOND TEAM ACROSS! Max of Fairy Tail! Vance of Lamia Scale! Ronya of Lamia Scale! LAMIA SCALE IS THE THIRD TEAM ACROSS! Thibault of Twilight Ogre! Eve of Blue Pegasus! Mattan of Twilight Ogre! Riko of Bleu Pegasus! BLUE PEGASUS IS THE FOURTH TEAM ACROSS! This only leaves Fairy Tail and Twilight Ogre! Randal of Twilight Ogre! Xavier of Twilight Ogre! Now all that's left is Warren of Fairy Tail and Xalt of Twilight Ogre! Who will win?_"

The two wizards in question were locked in a magic battle in the middle of the area. There was a big _bang_ as Xalt used a magic spell and Warren jumped out of the way. He continued to run and the announcer began to speak fast and Xalt began running, right behind Warren, and the announcers words became even faster and Warren burst through the finish line seconds behind Xalt.

And the crowd went wild.

"_THAT'S IT FOR THIS ROUND FOLKS. IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE SABERTOOTH!" _Lyra and her friends beamed with pride and waved to the public that began to adore them. They had this in the bag, Lyra could feel it. "_SECOND PLACE MERMAID HEEL! THIRD PLACE LAMIA SCALE! FOURTH PLACE IS BLUE PEGASUS! FIFTH PLACE IS TWILIGHT OGRE AND SIXTH PLACE IS FAIRY TAIL!_" He stopped screaming to explain the plan for tomorrow in a normal-announcer voice as opposed to an excited-announcer voice.

_"That's it for tonight folks. Rankings are set and tomorrow we set up the teams. We have been told to explain the schedule to everyone, so tomorrow we will give each team, according to their ranks, an opposing team, these two teams will begin a chess-like game. Each move will be made by the team and when two opposing guild members meet instead of the latter one destroying the first, the two will have to complete a challenge. The first of the two to complete a challenge wins!_"

"_Since the teams will be split up by two for this portion of the tournament one game will go on a day, if a winner has not be established by the end of the day the team who won the most challenges will go on in the tournament. We will tell the competitors who will be playing with whom the moment of just like the spectators! So get a good night's sleep everyone, who knows if you'll be next!_" The arena began to darken and Lyra looked at her guildmates.

"Are we going to bed now?"

"I think so." Rufus said, tilting his hat. "It's a good thing too. I'm exhausted and we'll probably be up tomorrow."

"Why do you say that?" Sting asked.

Rufus shrugged. "We came in first place in this event. Everyone wants to see more of first place."

The pumpkin man appeared in front of the teams and directed them to their hotel. That night everyone fell asleep on team Sabertooth except Sting Eucliffe. He was too excited to sleep. He stayed in the common room and stared up at the sky. There were so many things he wished he could be doing right now. He just couldn't sleep.

The door opened and Lyra peeked out her groggy head. "Sting?" She asked.

He lifted up his head and propped himself up on his elbows. "What is it Lyra?"

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I can't sleep."

Lyra padded out of her own room. As soon as they had gotten back she had changed back into her pajamas. She pushed the strap of her tank top back over her shoulder and rubbed her head as she sat opposite him on the couch. "Adrenaline?"

"Yeah."

Lyra waved her hand. "I could help you with that, you know." She said.

Sting rolled his eyes. "I need my full magic abilities for tomorrow."

"Right." Lyra grinned. They sat in silence for a minute and Lyra's head drooped a bit.

It took Sting a second but he cried out in shock when he realized what she was doing. "You're sleeping?!" Lyra had fallen asleep siting up. Sting sighed and took off his vest. He used it and his gloves to help him carry Lyra back into her room. He placed her gently on the bed and pulled the covers over her.

Sabertooth may have been a rough guild but they were still his family. No matter how horribly they treated each other or they were treated by their master they were still friends. And friends and family don't let people go to sleep without being tucked in. He walked back into his and Rogue's room. He changed into pajamas, crawled under the covers and tried to sleep.

Tomorrow was a big day. The day he had been training for.

* * *

**Hey guys. So this is the last already made chapter I have... I'll try and continue updating more often but again, this horrible this called *makes Excalibur face from Soul Eater* moving *continues making Excalibur face from Soul Eater* is taking over my life, so I don't know when.**

**Thanks everyone for reading! If anyone has an idea of a challenge they want the teams to try comment! I'll see if I can work it in! :)**

**Until next time **

**~Diana**


	9. Lamia Scale VS Fairy Tail

"_Good morning FIORE_!" The announcer shouted. The teams looked at the large crowd around them that roared excitedly.

"They saw us last night, why are they so excited?" Orga muttered.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Lyra said with a grin.

Orga just gave her a look. The announcer continued talking and Lyra only began paying attention when he called her guild.

"-_ Annnnnd teeeeeam Sabertooth_!" The announcer shouted. The team waved to their adoring public.

"_Now that we've met all of the teams we would like to explain how the pairs will work. Teams will be matched up bracket style which means that two of the teams will have a bye, an automatic guarantee into the next round! The brackets will be at the bottom of your lacrima screens and will update as the Games progress!" _The brackets were shown with eight spaces for team. Each team was represented by their insignia. The spacing went Team 1 versus Team 8, Team 2 and Team 7, and so on. Considering there were only six teams however Team 1 (Sabertooth) and Team 2 (Mermaid Heel) had byes. "_The teams that will be competing today are…" _There was a dramatic pause. "_Lamia Scale versus Fairy Tail!_"

"In case you couldn't see a lacrima." Rufus muttered cynically.

The two teams stepped forward and the others were ushered onto dedicated balconies, one for each team. There balconies would be the places for the teams when they were beaten out of the Games or when they weren't in the center of the arena. Lyra sat on the edge of the balcony, her feet dangling off the end. Rogue watched the Games but was seemingly uninterested in what was going on. Orga and Rufus half-heartedly watched, and Sting sat on the given seats and while looking at the Games intensely. Lector and Frosch waddled over to Lyra and Lyra grinned.

"Here kitty, kitty," Lyra cooed as she waved her fingers. Frosch's eyes went wide and he pounced on Lyra's waving, glove-covered fingers. Lyra laughed and Frosch looked up at her with a cute, innocent look.

"What's so funny Lyra?" He asked.

"Did you know you're adorable Frosch?"

"Fro think so too!" The exceed proclaimed.

Lector crawled past Frosch and gave Lyra his version of a cute face. "Am I adorable, Lyra?"

"No. Only Frosch is." Lyra responded deadpan.

Lector rolled his eyes. "Well you think you're cute, so you're obviously not a good judge." He stated dryly.

"Are you sure? I think Sting's cute."

"You do?" Lector and Sting cried at the same time. Lector slipped and fell off the balcony but came back up flying.

Lyra laughed. "You wish." She returned her attention to the game below. Part of the arena had been turned into a seven by seven checker board. Each team member wore a large picture of their chess piece. King stood in the middle; the king on the Fairy Tail side was Bisca, and the king on the Lamia Scale side was Toby. On the E column were the queens; from Fairy Tail Max, and from Lamia Scale Yuka. On the other side of the queens were the knights; Laki and Vance. Rooks sat on the other side of the king and from the Lamia Scale side Sherry, and Warren from Fairy Tail. Last there were the bishops; Ronya from Lamia Scale and Reedus from Fairy Tail.

Ronya had been moved to space E6 and the Lamia Scale sent Sherry up to attack Warren, the other rook in the Game.

"_Congratulations_!" The announcer shouted. "_This is the first challenge! Warren and Sherry, your challenge is too_…" There was a dramatic pause and as the challenge was announced with groans of annoyance from everyone. "_HAVE AN EATING CONTEST_!"

Lyra kicked her legs over the other side of the balcony and sighed. "Speaking of which, I'm skipping this and going to get food. Anyone want anything?"

"Nah." The answers came. Lyra shrugged and left the balcony, wandering around the shopping area in the arena.

Back on the balcony, Sting laughed while he watched Sherry badly try and stuff her mouth to catch up with Warren. Fairy Tail might have pathetic wizards but the could win an eating contest.

"_Warren wins! Sherry is out of the game!_" The man who had just eaten more than a hundred hot dogs without throwing up stood and raised his hand while people cheered. Sting burst out laughing and the other, more mature, boys in the balcony just rolled their eyes and gave him pitying looks.

"What?" Sting asked innocently, "It's funny!"

Lamia Scale's Ronya went up against Reedus in a challenge and the drawing contest was won by Reedus flatteringly painting Jenny of Blue Pegasus. "Come on Lamia Scale! Fairy Tail sucks, beat them already!" Sting shouted. He was the only one on his team who actually seemed to care about what was going on in the Games.

"Yeah Lamia Scale!" Lector added, so that his friend didn't sound as alone as he was in his care of what was going on. Yuka moved in front of Toby, checking the Fairy Tail king: Bisca. Bisca moved in front of Warren and Vance moved to G5. Warren moved to where Bisca had started. Yuka moved diagonally to E4 putting Bisca in check again. Max moved forward to attack Yuka.

Yuka and Max were challenged block point blank magic shots by a random wizard from another team, if they missed one block then they would lose. Arana from Mermaid Heel was called and she attacked each of them with Arana. Max tried but lost only after three Web Shot attacks.

Yuka moved to do a challenge with Bisca. "_Now here is where we will introduce another rule. When the king is attacked then the challenge will be a simple one on one battle!_"

"Yuka's gonna win." Orga said. "I'm going to find Lyra and get her back here." He stood and left. The time was a little after noon and the Sabertooth team was surprised that the game took such a short amount of time. The announcers had made it seem like it would take longer.

Yuka and Bisca squared off. "_Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Goooooooo!_" Bisca shot, and Yuka held out his hands, the Wave magic pulsed and grew into a shield as the bullet hit it. The bullet fell to the ground and Bisca's eyes widened.

"Hey," Sting said suddenly. "Isn't that like Lyra's magic?"

"Lyra doesn't have magic, Sting." Rogue dismissed without looking at the center of the arena.

"Well it's like whatever she uses! Look!" Sting said pointing to the arena. Rogue and Rufus leaned over the balcony as they watched the battle.

Yuka shouted his spell and Wave particles shot at Bisca. Bisca took the opportunity to shoot at Yuka and the collision of the bullet and the Wave made a huge _boom _as it neutralized the magic shot. The force from the explosive collision shot both mages backwards and Bisca hit her head against the ground hard.

"_Oooooo! That looked painful. But can either of them get up?_" The announcer voiced.

Yuka pulled himself to his feet and Bisca tried to rise. Bisca struggled and the crowd roared both encouragement and slanders. Yuka saw his chance to win and took it. Using his magic Wave Boost he propelled himself forward and brought his fist down in an explosive punch, using his Wave to power to punch.

Bisca didn't get back up.

"_YUKA OF LAMIA SCALE! LAMIA SCALE IS THE FIRST OF THE TEAMS TO FIGHT TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ROUND IN THE TOURNEMENT!_" The Lamia Scale guildmark showed up in its place in the brackets. "_CONGRADULATIONS LAMIA SCALE! Fairy Tail is out of the tournament, coming in last place! That's all for today folks! See everyone tomorrow, when we have Blue Pegasus and Twilight Ogre battle for the place opposite Lamia Scale!_"

"That's it?" Sting asked as he realized that everyone was leaving the arena.

"That was boring." Rogue muttered.

"I can't believe we have to do something so demeaning." Rufus sighed, shaking his head.

"Hey guys!" Lyra called as she and Orga walked back onto the balcony. "Is it over?" She asked. She was greeted with nods so she stretched her arms into the air as she sighed deeply. She put her hands in a resting position behind her head. "So what're we doing now?"

"I want to learn more about that mage's magic." Rufus said.

"Huh?" Lyra asked.

"It's the Lamia Scale mage Yuka. He's got this Wave magic that's like your not-magic, Lyra." Sting explained.

"A mage with magic like me?" Lyra asked. She grinned. "I'd love to take him on in a fight."

"You'd probably win." Sting said with a shrug.

"Aww! Thanks for all of the confidence, Dragon Slayer!" Lyra giggled, bumping her covered shoulder with his.

Sting raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't commenting on your fighting. I was commenting on the fact that he wouldn't be able to touch you."

"And the fact that you're from Sabertooth." Lector proclaimed proudly. Everyone looked at him confused. "Well you're from Sabertooth so you have to win." Lector explained.

"That's… not how it works, Lector." Lyra argued.

"Would you rather win even though Yuka beats you to a pulp or have Master be mad at you?" Lector asked. No one answered. Lector stuck his nose in the air. "That's what I thought."

"On that note," Lyra said turning to the mages. "Who wants to go site-seeing?"

The rest of the day was filled with flowers and the unbearably happy look on Lyra's face every time she reminded herself of that one time, early on in the afternoon, where Sting ended up face-planting into a fertilizer bin. All of Sting's teammates had laughed at him but the thought of it kept Lyra cheerful until she went to sleep.

* * *

**I know, I know. This chapter's late. I should be better at updating all that shtick. But I'm surprised I got this one up at all this week. So I give kudos to myself. I've realized you guys don't comment/review a lot. I'd love to hear your thoughts... It's 1 am here, so I should proabably be sleeping. BUT SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!**

**Anyways, nighty night (anyone who's going to sleep after reading this.)**

**~ Diana**


	10. Blue Pegasus VS Twilight Ogre

**Hey all! Sorry it's been so long since I updated but I've been on a road-trip before moving out of country. Hopefully by this time next week I will be regularly updating this story... Who knows? Maybe I'l even finish it before school starts (heres to hoping...).**

**So here's excuse time. I've not only been on a road trip before moving but I lost the outline for this story... Now I usually don't have outlines but considering this is a fanfiction that takes place between two moments of Canon and it's a tournament I needed one to keep everything straight. Aaaaaand me being me I lost it. So yay!**

**I know you all just want to read the chapter and will probably skip this note so, sorry about that.**

**And without further ado... I present this chapter!**

**~ Diana **

* * *

Lyra awoke the next morning and her team got ready for the games. Like the day before they stood in the middle of the field while the announcer introduced them. They were sent to their provided balconies and watched a recap of what happened yesterday.

Twilight Ogre and Blue Pegasus walked onto the field and squared off. Lyra instantly decided who would be winner ("Blue Pegasus, obviously." "How can you be sure?" Sting had asked. Lyra raised an eyebrow. "They're Blue Pegasus. No way Master B's letting them loose to, what's the other team's name again?" "Twilight Ogre." "See what I mean.") and left the balcony trying to entertain herself until she was able to leave the arena.

"Hey, look!" Someone called. Lyra turned her head to find herself surrounded by spectators. Some had their faces painted with messages to the teams they supported; others wore flags and customized shirts with the insignias on them. She scanned the crowd for Sabertooth fans and found that all of the fans had her guildmark or name on them. "It's a Sabertooth Team member!"

"Can you sign my shirt?"

"Can you sign my hand?"

"Can you sign my chest?"

"Can you sign my ass?"

Questions flew at her from all sides and papers and pens were pushed into her hands. Soon she was signing everything people asked her to (except questionable body parts). Someone had, apparently a long time fan, even found her Sorcerer Weekly pin up poster she had done because of a bet, (and never did again, mind you). She signed that as well. A small child made her way to the front.

"Lyra?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Lyra bent down to her eye level.

The kid has brown hair in a braid and large purple eyes. She's young and has a small cowboy hat resting on her delicate head. "I lost my daddy and I was told to find a guild member if I was ever lost because they can take me back to my daddy and I don't know where any other guild members are and I want you to help me find my daddy!" She looked like she was about to cry so Lyra smiled at her.

"Ok kid, but on one condition."

"What?" The girl sniffled.

"No crying. Can't have anyone crying in my guild."

"In your guild?" The girl asked.

"Well, not technically my guild, but I don't like crying children, so don't cry. Ok?" Lyra asked. The girl nodded enthusiastically. Lyra gave her a hand and she took it.

"What's your name kid?" Lyra asked.

"My name's Asuka." The girl proclaimed. Asuka… where had Lyra heard that name before?

"Ok. Where are your parents going to be, Asuka?"

"In the stands." Asuka said with a shrug. _Wow, Asuka, specific. Well, time to start looking. I have the entire stands to go…_ Lyra thought. They went into the stands near the Blue Pegasus balcony so the majority of fans rooted for the team above them.

Asuka shook her cowboy-hatted head. "They're over there!" She said pointing to a section with a flurry of mixed flags. _I wonder what guild her parents are rooting for. _Lyra thought. Lyra picked up the small girl and gave her a piggy back ride.

"Now, Asuka I'm going to tell you something very important." Lyra said. "Don't touch my skin. It's part of my magic," A simple lie to halt questions, "you can't touch my skin."

"How 'bout your hair? Can I touch your hair?"

"Sure, kid. But not my scalp. Only the edge of the hair." Asuka ran her tiny fingers through Lyra's pink mess and Asuka giggled.

"What is it kid?" Lyra asked as she hiked through the crowded stands, careful not to touch anyone.

"You're hair reminds me of someone. Why do you have a blue streak?"

"Dunno." Lyra said with a shrug, making the kid bounce on her back and giggle. "Always had it."

"Why's your hair so short?"

"So it doesn't get in the way of me fighting."

"Why are you a mage in Sabertooth?"

"Because they were the only guild who would accept me."

"Why were they the only guild who would accept you?"

"Because I had been denied joining a guild by a very powerful guild Master."

"My old guild Master was super powerful."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? You're in a guild?"

"Mommy and Daddy are."

"Oh yeah? What guild?"

"Fairy Tail." Lyra almost dropped the kid. Asuka noticed the change in tone and frowned. "What's wrong, Lyra?"

"I, um," Lyra shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. This sweet child who she was helping was from the Fairy Fucker's guild. She _was_ one! After everything Makorav did to her and how she treated every Fairy Floozy she had seen since, she was downright horrible to them and they were the same way to her. This probably wasn't a good idea. Hell, she had insulted their new Master M only a day or two ago. "Asuka, I don't know if I can help you find your parents."

"Why not?"

_What the fuck do I tell her? _Lyra wondered. _I hate everyone one in your guild and everything you stand for? _"They're on a rival team, I don't think it would be appropriate."

"Come on, _pleeeeeaassse_! I'm really scared and I can't find them…" Asuka sounded like she was going to cry. Lyra may have been a heartless, bitchy, Witch Hunter, but she couldn't stand and watch a small child cry. Even if the child _was_ a Fetus Fairy.

"Ok, but I'll only go until we can see them. Then you're on your own."

There was a violent nodding of a head from Asuka and Lyra trudged on.

"Lyra, what's your magic?"

"I, um, I actually don't have magic."

"You don't? How can you be in the Games?"

"They said you have to be from a magic guild and you need a guild emblem. They never said you had to be a wizard. I'm called a Witch Hunter, or a Void."

"Why?"

"Because what I do is I can take a mage's power and drain it from them. That's why you can't touch me."

"Because you'd take my magic power?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"I don't really know a lot of the mechanics, but basically, everyone born has something called Magic Energy."

"So?" Lyra really hadn't planned on explaining this but if she asked…

"_So_, I don't. Instead I have none. So when I touch someone I take their Magic Energy."

"So how did you get allowed into a wizard guild?"

"My Master just allowed me in."

"_Oooooh_." There was a silence and then, "Hey Lyra, do ya think I could be a Witch Hunter?"

"I don't think you can become one kid. I think you just are when you're born."

"Why?_"_

"I dunno."

"Why?"

"I dunno."

"OK." Asuka allowed this without an explanation. Lyra finished her hike to the Fairy Tail side and put Asuka down. She overheard a handful of Fairy Tail wizards running about, talking feverishly to each other. She covered her guild mark with her hand.

"I don't _know _where she is! _That's why I'm asking you_!" Someone was saying.

"Calm down Laki, I'm sure we'll find her."

"Bisca and Alzack are almost in _tears_. Come _on_ Warren! Don't you sense _anything_?"

"I can't sense anything with all these people! She's a little girl Laki, there are thousands of people here!"

"Hey! Reedus! Do you see her?"

"I can't tell."

"Do you think they're looking for me?" Asuka asked.

Lyra nodded. "I think so, kid."

She tapped one of the Fairy Flowers on the shoulder. The girl had dark purple hair and a white dress. She looked shocked at Lyra speaking to her. Lyra didn't directly remember her… She was never in Sorcerer Weekly.

"Uh, are you looking for a kid named Asuka?" Lyra asked dumbly.

The girl slammed two fingers to her forehead and shouted. "A _Sabertooth_ has Asuka!"

Lyra raised her gloved hands. "Woah woah woah! I don't have her kidnapped or something! I-"

The Fairies surrounding Lyra whirled on her. "Where are you keeping Asuka?"

"Why did you take her?"

"Her parents are worried sick! Have you no heart?"

"How horrible!"

"What do you gain from taking Asuka?"

"You dare challenge the Fairies?"

"We will do anything to get that girl back you Sabertooth monster!"

"_I'm trying to help her_!" Lyra roared, cutting off the demands from the guildmembers.

"Lyra?" Asuka asked shyly. She hid behind Lyra's leg, camouflaged by the stands. The Fairies looked down and all simultaneously looked like they were going to cry from joy.

"Asuka!" They chorused as they lifted her into their arms and onto their shoulders.

"We were so worried!"

"Your parents were so worried!"

"Master was worried!"

"Don't run off like that!"

"You know to always go somewhere with someone in the guild!"

"We're so glad you're OK!"

Lyra's throat tightened. This was the Fairy Tail guild. These were the unaccepting monsters that turned her into the badass she was today, why are they acting so kind?

"Lyra helped me." Asuka proclaimed proudly.

The Fairies turned to the blushing Saber. "Huh." Said Wakaba. "Who would have thought? A Fairy and a Tiger working together."

Lyra blushed. "We're not complete assholes." She said defensively.

"Apparently not." The old geezer said. He grinned, and took a puff from his pipe. "You have our thanks Saber."

"Whatever, gramps." Lyra said, waving her hand. Wakaba scowled resentfully. She turned to Asuka. "Stay out of trouble kid."

"Bye Lyra!" The kid yelled, waving her hand wildly.

"Oh, and old man?" Lyra said over her shoulder. "Tell your Master that Sabertooth's gonna win. And tell that to old Master M when he gets back too."

"You knew Makorav?" Wakaba called.

Lyra laughed. "Knew is one word for it."

"How are you sure he's gonna come back?" This comment was made by a kid. Older than Asuka, younger than Lyra. He was about twelve or so. He wore a scarf like that damned Dragon Slayer. His blue eyes glaring into Lyra's.

"Excuse me?" Lyra said, raising an eyebrow. The kid looked like New Master M, probably his kid or something.

"It's been six years. How do you know?" Baby Master M demanded.

Lyra shrugged. "I dunno. You're Fairy Tail, a pestilence that never dies, the ongoing failure with pride out the wazoo. You always come back, whether you should or not. That's the Fairy Tail curse."

"You call it a curse. We call it a blessing." Macao said. So the old man finally decided to show up. He stood his ground and glared at Lyra who just returned with a watchful gaze. "Because that's what Fairy Tail is. We never die because as long as there are good, honest wizards in this world, there _will_ be a Fairy Tail!" The guild roared in acceptance behind him and Lyra giggled.

"Whatever you say, Fake Master M. But you're last, again. So when you wanna talk to me about Fairy Tail's might, maybe you should at least beat Twilight Ogre. After all, they took your city, didn't they?" At the mention of the loss of their city the Fairy Twerps grew restless.

"You speak boldly for a guild that came from nothing and will end up as nothing by the end of these Games." Macao hissed.

Lyra smiled. "You say that Fake Master M, but it ain't true. Sabertooth _will_ become number one guild in Fiore. I swear that on my life. Number one or bust." She winked at the broken guild before her. "You'd best get ready, because Sabertooth is gonna take Fiore by storm." She began walking away from them, waving as she went. The crowd around her roared in response to something on the field and Lyra giggled.

"See you at the finish line Fairy Tail! If you can get there!"

And with that dramatic closing, Lyra's encounter with the guild of Fairy Tail ended, as well as Twilight Ogre's competition with Blue Pegasus. They laid defeated, and wounded on the field as Master B's guild paraded around, high on victory. _Beating Blue Pegasus is going to be fun. _Lyra thought. She glanced at the brackets at the bottom of the lacrimas._ Sooo… tomorrow would be my fight versus the girl guild. _Lyra thought, her grin was one of malicious Sabertooth intent. _God I love this guild, and god they have no chance._ Lyra giggled. _I wonder how Master J is gonna thank us for winning? Angry lecture about how we could have fought better, or a workout he supervises because Sting tripped once…_ _Tomorrow is going to be a good day._

* * *

**MORE ME TALKING, AREN'T I ANNOYING? I know you talkative bunch love my little notes. **

**ooooo Dramatic! What's going to happen next? That would be Sabertooth's first fight in the GmG (SPOILERS!). Soo if anyone would like to review, I wouldn't mind... **

**Also anyone wants to see two characters in Sabertooth and Mermaid Heel go up against each other in a certain challenge, or would like to just suggest a challenge I'm all ears!**

**Work with me people, **

**Until next time!**

**~ Diana**


	11. Sabertooth VS Mermaid Heel

**What? Updates? They exist?! **

**Yes readers, yes they do. I'd like to thank everyone for following, favoriting, and just reading this fic in general. **

**SOOOOOO here's the shtick, I'm thinking of setting a deadline for myself to finish this fic because I'm actually almost done :'( *cries a little because I really like writing this fic, but the end is soon.***

**If I stick to my deadline I will be finished by the time I start school, so September 1. I would like to thank everyone who followed/favorited and a special shoutout to GhostOfOnyx because they reviewed, and have stuck with me through this entire fiasco of an updating schedule and odd story. **

**Now I'm just stalling...**

**So without further ado...**

**~ Diana**

* * *

Lyra was awoken to a bucket of cold water being poured over her head, and a large man grabbing her by her hair and dragging her out of bed. She squealed in surprise and was promptly dropped after she was pulled into the common room. Her clothes were thrown at her, she assumed Master J had used the material to cover his hand when he dragged her, and she met the eyes of her Master. The boys were all already up, and in their clothes. They presumably had the same treatment.

"Get dressed." The Guild Master hissed. Lyra held his gaze as she stripped and he held out a hand for the discarded clothing. She handed it to him and pulled on her black pants. Her Master stared at her unnervingly and Lyra brushed the glare aside as she pulled the black shirt over her head. Lyra glanced at her teammates to find them all staring at her as well. Orga had his arms crossed and he seemed to be disinterested in the whole situation. Rufus brushed invisible dust off his shoulder and shook his head pitifully. Sting's mouth hung open dumbly. Rogue's face was the color of a tomato and his eyes looked glassy. Lyra giggled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Master J growled.

"I think I just ruined the Dragon Slayers' innocence." She said with a shrug. She wrapped herself in her jacket and began pulling on her gloves. Master J whipped around to glare at them and Lyra winked behind Jiemma's back.

"Pull yourselves together you fucking shits. It's just a girl." He ordered. The Dragon Slayers nodded and made grimaces as they tried to recover face.

"Now, I wanted to talk to you before you went out and won." Jiemma made eye contact with each of them as he talked and glared to cement his point. "If you do not win, I will have you disgrace yourselves in front of the entire Guild. You don't want that to happen do you, you worthless pieces of crap?"

"No sir." The team mumbled.

"Good. Are you going to win?" He asked them.

"Yes Master!" They chorused.

He nodded. "That's what I fucking thought." He turned and strode out of the room. The teammates uneasily shared glances.

"_Soooo_…" Sting stared to say, trying to dispel the awkward silence that stretched between the members of Sabertooth. Lector shuffled out from his hiding place behind Sting and stared intently at Lyra.

"You have breasts!" He proclaimed.

Lyra crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "That tends to happen when you're a girl." Lyra snapped at him.

"You let him order you around like that?" Rogue almost whispered.

Lyra sighed, and twirled her blue lock of hair. "He's my Guild Master, I don't really have a choice."

The blushing Shadow Dragon Slayer decided not to say anything more. Frosch waddled up to Lyra and tugged on her pant leg. She looked down and he held out his arms, as if asking her to pick him up. She did and stroked his head absently as she walked towards the exit of the common room.

"Come on. We're competing today. We need food." She said. At the sound of Sting's favorite thing in the world the White Dragon Slayer dashed out of the room with Lector close behind him. Rogue sighed and shook his head while he and the others followed.

After breakfast they went to the Grand Magic Games arena and, like the days before, stood for all of Fiore to see with the other Guilds as they were introduced.

"_And today's match is the lovely ladies of MERMAID HEEL!_" The crowd erupted into screams. "_And the ferocious tigers of Fiore, SABERTOOTH_!" The roar for their team was quieter than that of Mermaid Heel, but that's to be expected as Mermaid Heel was all pretty girls and so they had a bigger fanbase.

"_We will, like always, announce positions and give out the piece papers. Bishops, from Mermaid Heel Risley Law, and from Sabertooth, Rogue Cheney_!" Team Sabertooth watched as one of the Twins made their way to get the card with the stamped chess piece on it and the Bishops made their ways to their starting points. This continued to be the case for each of the next contestants. "_The Rooks are Rufus and Aura! Knights are Orga and Beth! Queens are Sting and Arana! And last but not least, Kings are Kagura and Lyra_!"

Lyra took her place in the middle of her row. Sting stood on one side of her and Rufus stood on the other. Rufus dusted off the cuff of his flamboyant shirt and Sting grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"_LET THE GAMES BEGIN!_" There was another roar from the crowd and the team names were chanted over and over.

"MERIMAID HEEL! MER-MAID HEEL! MER-MAID HEEL!"

"SAY-BER-TOOTH! SAY-BER-TOOTH! SAY-BER-TOOTH!"

_This is going to be fun. _Lyra thought with a smile.

And it was. Eventually, but the beginning was pretty boring. Sabertooth went first. Rogue moved from his spot next to Rufus all the way to the other edge, effectively being in the position to directly challenge the knight from Mermaid Heel, Beth. Kagura ordered to Beth to move in an L shape behind Rogue so they could avoid conflict. Beth did as she was told and Rufus muttered to Lyra that Jiemma wanted them to take the game slowly, make it interesting, and to pass on the message. Lyra whispered to Sting, repeating what Rufus had told her and was received with a smirk.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint Master." He whispered back before passing it on to Orga.

"_Looks like Sabertooth is planning something, doesn't it Frank?_" One announcer asked the other. The announcers had been speaking aimlessly during the entire interaction, but so far only about Mermaid Heel.

"_Yeah it does. And boy do they have some power in their Guild Chapati. The person probably planning the course of action is Rufus Lore. Rufus is quite the brain I've heard._"

"_That's right Frank, Rufus Lore is a Memory-make mage. He is also incredibly smart and probably has planned out the entire game. But power-wise he pales in comparison to his teammates, even though he is so strong._"

"_True. Who would you say the second least strong is Chapati? The Dragon Slayers, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney, or the God Slayer, Orga Nanagear."_

_"Definitely the God Slayer, Frank, even though he _can_ slay Gods as his name suggests, the Twin Dragon Slayers of Sabertooth are possibly the strongest Sabertooth has to offer. Especially since their Unison Raid has been perfected and they can both tap into the Dragonforce, the special Dragon Slayer mode that essentially turns the mages into human dragons._"

"_I agree that the Twin Dragon Slayers, Sting and Rogue are very powerful, but I can't help but notice that another of the most powerful mages in Sabertooth has yet to make an appearance. Minerva Orland, the daughter of the Guild Master herself. Minerva is arguably the most powerful person in the Guild_."

Lyra rolled her eyes, and Orga snorted under his breath while Sting straight out laughed.

"Looks like they're forgetting all about you, huh Witch Hunter?" He smirked. Lyra stuck her tongue out at him. Orga moved to a box two places in front of Sting. Arana moved to where Beth's starting point had been and Rogue took the opportunity to move diagonally and challenge Arana.

"_FIRST CHALLENGE OF TODAY!_" Chapati cried. Lyra jumped not expecting him to have spoken so loudly. "_Rogue Cheney versus Arana Webb, iiiiiiiinnnnnn A TRIVIA GAME! Bonus points to anyone in the crowd who can get every question right."_

Rogue and Arana walked off of the chess board and over to where two buzzers lacrima were being set up, along with a pedestal and a score board. The score board had each Guild insignia over a number, the numbers were currently as 0:0.

Rufus sighed. "That's a little anti-climactic, don't you think?" He said to no one in particular.

The little pumpkin man appeared on the pedestal. "HERE ARE THE RULES: The first to press their lacrima gets to answer the question. You have ten seconds to answer the question. If they get it wrong, the other team gets a chance to steal. The person who has won the most questions by the end of the seven questions wins. Simple enough?" He asked the contestants who nodded. They placed their hands directly over the buzzer lacrima but didn't touch them. He took out a small card and read the question off of it.

"FIRST QUESTION: Seven years ago, what Guild had many of their members disappear over what island?"

Rogue's hand was down first. "Fairy Tail lost their members over Tenrou Island."

"Correct!" There was a _ding!_ and the 0 that had represented Sabertooth changed to a 1.

The announcers gave a play by play. "_And Sabertooth has the FIRST POINT!_" The crowd cheered. "_Off to a great start don't you think?_"

"_Definitely! I wonder who will take the next question…_" Then they proceeded to talk about the probability of each team winning each question.

"Question Two!" The pumpkin shouted, holding up the appropriate amount of fingers. "name the Four Kings of Ishgar!"

Arana's hand slammed onto the buzzer lacrima. "God Serena, Hyberion, Wolfheim, and Warrod Sequen."

"Correct!"

"_Now they're tied!"_

_"Yes, definitely getting more-_"

"Question Three! Name seven Guildmasters."

Rogue answered this question. "Master Jiemma, Master Ooba, Master Goldmine, Master Bob, Master Banaboster, Master Macao, Master Ivan." Master Ivan had recently become a big issue as his Guild Raven Tail used to be a Dark Guild. Lyra didn't care much about him though, he was the son of Master M (the first) of Fairy Tail, so he probably was pathetic like his father.

"Four! The full name of one of our announcers today!"

Rogue answered this one again. "Chapati Lola."

"Five! Name the highest rank a Guild Member can have if they are not master!"

Arana hit the buzzer first. "S-Class."

"Six! What was the historical name of the Grand Magic Games?"

Rogue responded. "The Dragon King Festival."

"Seven! Name the most evil wizard of all time."

The buzzer lacrima lit up at the same time. The announcers began to speak about how that wasn't possible. The pumpkin began to babble agreeing with them and the feeling of restlessness came over the entire Arena.

"_Sorry everyone! An error has occurred with the lacrimas. We are getting it fixed right now._" Chapati Lola apologized. He and Frank began to speak to fill the actionless silence. Mechanics came onto the field and began fiddling with the buzzers.

_The wizard _we_ think is the most evil, or the universally recognized one? _Rogue thought to himself grimly even though he knew what answer they wanted. He glanced up at the stands where Master Jiemma sat glaring at his Guild Members. Rogue glanced at Arana. It didn't matter whether or not she got this question correct, he had more points than she did. Sweat dripped down her neck and Rogue felt an odd sense of… _sympathy_? What that the word? He hoped she had a nicer Guild Master than he did. If Rogue had lost to someone this badly Jiemma would humiliate him and probably harm him. Or Frosch. Rogue clenched his fists. He was never letting that sick bastard anywhere _near _his Exceed. He glanced at the pumpkin man who was staring, puzzled, at the lacrimas while the mechanics worked. Shouldn't they not be able to go off at the same time? After inspection the mechanics shrugged and lent a Jewel to the pumpkin.

The Grand Magic Games Mascot quieted everyone with a wave of his hands. "So the lacrimas have been broken from force of impact, and we will decide who goes first to answer the final question with a flick of a Jewel!" The pumpkin man turned to the contestants. Rogue glanced at Arana who was twisting her fingers nervously. "Laaadies first!" He proclaimed, drawing out the first word.

"H-Heads." Arana chose nervously, leaving Rogue with tails. The pumpkin man flicked the Jewel in the air. It was one of those moments where time slowed, the tension in the arena was so thick you could cut it with a White Dragon Roar. Even the announcers stayed silent as Rogue prayed, to whatever deity or Dragon out there pulling the strings, for the coin to land on tails. The coin fell through the air and it seemed to move down sluggishly, down, down, down, until finally, it landed in the open hand of the pumpkin man.

"Tails!" He proclaimed and the crowd cheered. Rogue let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and answered the question.

"Zeref." The crowd was silent and there was a _ding!_ announcing that Rogue had been correct. He glanced at the score board: 2:5, Sabertooth's favor.

"CONGRADULATIONS TEAM SABERTOOTH! YOU HAVE WON YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE!" The pumpkin cried, throwing his arms in the air. The crowd erupted again.

"_Well I have to say Frank, I did not see that coming_."

"_Me neither Chapati, Sabertooth might actually have the power to win this year._"

"_I wouldn't count your Exceeds yet Frank, we have yet to see if they win this round_."

"_True, true_…" They continued to talk and Rogue returned to his place on the chessboard.

It was Mermaid Heel's turn and their Rook, Aura, moved forward until she was one full box away from Rufus. He stepped forward and challenged her. They ended up in a modeling contest which Rufus ended up winning by making everyone remember him as a beautiful woman. He took his spot back on the board and it was Mermaid Heel's turn again. Risley moved diagonally a few places in front of Kagura and Rogue went to challenge the chubby mermaid.

He was sadly defeated in a rousing Chariot Race. The rules were announced and Rogue had already begun to look green, but it was too late now.

He and Risley mounted their specially adorned (with their Guildmarks and names) chariots. The rules were simple, get your chariot to the other side of the arena before the other person. The starting gun was shot and Rogue whipped his horses into gear. He immediately felt sick and Sting burst out laughing as his Twin began to tremble with nausea. Orga face-palmed himself and Rufus tilted the brim of his hat, in effort not to watch the terrifyingly pathetic display.

"_And they're off! Or at least Mermaid Heel's Risley is. Rogue from Sabertooth seems to… be sick?!"_ Chapati turned to his fellow announcer. "_It does seem like he's sick, doesn't it?_"

"Come on Rogue! Snap out of it!" Lyra cheered him on. She turned to a hysterical Sting. "What's going on with him?"

The White Dragon Slayer didn't answer her, instead Rufus did. "The Dragon Slayers get motion-sick." He explained. Lyra's jaw dropped.

"Both of them?" She wondered. Sting immediately stopped giggling at his Twin's expense and held Lyra's twinkling gaze. She was laughing at him!

"Maybe…" He acknowledged slowly. "Why?"

Lyra began to laugh audibly now. "You, *giggle*, the Great, Almighty Sting gets *snort* _motion sick_!" She held her sides from laughing so much.

Sting harrumphed and crossed his arms. "Says the person afraid of heig-"

Lyra punched him in the face and he scowled. "Hey!" He complained. Her eyes weren't twinkling anymore, now they were deadly serious.

"If you tell anybody about that. I will rip your head off, with my bare hands, after I have drained you almost to death." She threatened.

Sting rolled his eyes, and rubbed his jaw. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

Risley didn't even need to use magic to win the challenge and Rogue was out of the game. _Well shit, Master J is gonna be pissed at him. _Lyra thought. Risley took her spot back and Orga moved to challenge her again.

"Yeah Orga!" Lyra called. "You go! Avenge Rogue!"

"For this challenge, we will have both Risley and Orga defeat a terrifying monster. The first to defeat their monster wins!" The mascot explained. Two large cages were brought onto the field with huge beasts inside them that ran at the bars repeatedly, making them creak and shake, as they tried to escape. People in the audience screamed. The mascot turned to them.

"Don't worry!" He told them. "We have powerful mages on hand, including those in the tournament to kill the monsters if they escape from their impenetrable cages." This relaxed the spectators slightly.

Orga and Risley went into their respective cages and the bars were locked behind them. Orga squared off against his monster and a bell rang.

"Begin!" The pumpkin ordered, throwing his arms up in the air for emphasis.

Risley circled her monster. The monsters were ten times the height of the Mermaid Heel member and her bright purple. They stood on four legs, large ugly yellow snouts snorted smoke. They had small black beady eyes and two long ivory tusks stuck out of their mouths. While Risley circled her monster, thinking of a way to attack, Orga decided that she was taking too long.

He held his naked out in front of him and shouted "120 Millimeter Black Lighting Cannon!" A loud _boom_ resonated in the arena and Orga's monster was engulfed in smoke and dust. When the air finally settled, the mages could see the remains of what was once Orga's monster. A tusk that had been almost completely incinerated, and one of it's gigantic paws were all that was left of the beast. Orga dusted off his hands and waited for the staff of the Grand Magic Games to open his cage.

The shocked crowd exploded into cheering. They chanted Orga's name and he beamed and he made his way back to the chess board.

Needless to say, Risley was out of the game.

"_That was fabulous!_" Chapati commented. "_Orga Nanagear took down that creature in a blaze of lighting! Simply fabulous! The question is, if Sabertooth had such talented members, why have they never won before?_"

"_The answer, Chapati, is simple. They have never had this arrangement of mages in the Games before. Look out Guilds! Sabertooth is taking Fiore by storm!_"

The crowd cheered again and Lyra glanced at her Guild Master. She could almost swear she saw him, just for a millisecond, look slightly proud. But then the emotion was replaced with his usual glare of disapproval. They were going to win. They were _really_ going to win!

With their egos fluffed and Mermaid Heel seeming to be on the losing side Beth made the stupid decision to regain her Guild's pride and move close to Sting, who, high on the team's recent victory, moved diagonally to challenge her.

They had a dance off, to which Sting won by break dancing and winking at the fans in the stands, making several swoon or scream his name in support (what they loved about him Lyra would never get, like sure he was _cute_ but he wasn't as sexy as some of the people from Blue Pegasus).

All that was left was more than half of the team of Sabertooth and Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel. Kagura stepped forward silently, capturing the gaze of the entire arena. Rufus moved to his right, effectively stepping in front of Lyra. Kagura took another step and challenged Orga, in what was a one on one battle as she was the King of the decimated Mermaid Heel team.

Orga grinned at the challenge and cracked his knuckles. "You will not win."

Kagura held her sword aloft and stared intensely into Orga's eyes. "Sometimes," she said flatly, the spectators held their breaths as they hung on to every word she uttered. "Mermaids can devour tigers."

Orga held his arms out to cast his spell. "120 MILLIMETER-" He never finished his spell as Kagura's sheathed sword slid across his chest. Nothing happened for a solid second and then his chest burst with blood. It dripped down his torso and onto his pants. Orga's eyes stayed wide while she kicked him in the head, making him fly into the wall of the arena. Orga did not stand. Medics rushed to his aid and Kagura resumed her place on the board.

"_Kagura Mikazuchi, everyone! Wow does that lady clean up! She didn't even use magic!_"

"_She didn't?!"_

_"No! She only used her precious sword, Archenemy. Archenemy is her special weapon which, when drawn, can cause cataclysmic events! To public knowledge, Kagura has never drawn her sword. Archenemy remains sheathed until she finds the one person that she has named her sword for, her arch enemy._"

"_Well, don't leave us hanging, who _is _Kagura's arch enemy, Chapati?_"

"_That's just it Frank, she hasn't told anyone. But boy would I not want to be them_." The announcers laughed from the safety of their box and Lyra grimaced. _Her Arch Enemy, huh?_

Rufus moved up to where Kagura stood in front of him and challenged her. His fight took longer than Orga's had. First he tilted his hat to her, she didn't respond. He then shouted "MEMORY-MAKE!" Kagura tried to attack him mid-spell as she had done with Orga, but all she caught was the memory of him. "A NIGHT OF FALLING STARS!"

Rufus spread out his arms and a large golden light shot from him and straight to Kagura who stepped to the side of the spell, barely missing it. She narrowed her eyes, realizing she might actually have to use magic this time. But Rufus was already casting his next spell.

"-TURBULENT FANG!"

The vertical whirlwinds surrounded Kagura who suddenly flew up, above the reach of the tornados, and landed. Her sword broke the ground where a memory of Rufus was, and she whipped around to catch his hat in her sword. The sword cut through the hat like a knife through butter and Rufus became enraged (something rarely seen) at the loss of his precious hat. The pink plume drifted the ground and Rufus cast another spell.

"MEMORY-MAKE; KARMA OF BURNING LAND!"

The ground broke into flowing blasts of lava. Kagura used her magic to somehow fly above the burning ground ("_Look at that! That's Kagura's gravity manipulation magic! By manipulated her own gravity she can essentially fly! How ingenious!_") and attacked Rufus with a kick to the head, this time she scored and Rufus went flying. He hit his head on the unbroken ground and with a mighty _crack _was down for the count. _Wow._ Lyra would _love_ to get her chance at this girl.

When Kagura walked back to the chess board that seemed to be what would happen. Kagura took a step forward and Sting looked determinded to move and challenge her.

"No!" Lyra shouted sharply. Both mages turned to face her. "I take her." She ordered.

"_Looks like Lyra Young has a plan of action against her unbeatable opponent!_"

Lyra ignored the rest of the announcers' talk as they began to discuss her. Kagura and Lyra stood two boxes apart. Kagura's icy, stoic gaze matched with Lyra's playful grin. Lyra stepped forward.

"_Speaking of which, we never did get around to evaluating Lyra Young, did we?_"

"_No we didn't Frank. Actually not much is known about this specific Saber. Lyra Young was wanted by the Magic Council for Classified purposes once when she was younger, she then got out of those as she was accepted into her current Guild._"

Kagura stepped forward. They stood toe to toe, eyes locked. Lyra didn't move and decided the let the suspense build as her turn dragged on.

"_Lyra Young does however have a rare and special ability._"

"_What is that ability, Chapati?_"

"_That's the thing, it's so rare that many don't know of it, in fact _I _haven't even been informed about this ability. On special request of her Guild Master it has been kept secret from most staff in effort to keep the surprise when she finally _does_ fight. We are only allowed to know and have information about it when her first challenge starts._" That seemed to Lyra like a long enough turn. She stepped forward and tapped Kagura on the top of her black hair. She grinned and giggled.

"I challenge you." She said simply.

Kagura seemed stunned by Lyra's reaction to her challenge and stepped back warily. She continued to stare at Lyra whose grin widened.

Lyra and Kagura walked off of the chessboard and squared off. Lyra said no word, cast no spell, for the simple reason of the fact that she couldn't. Kagura regarded this cautiously, but the match wouldn't begin unless someone attacked. Kagura readied her sword and barreled toward the Void.

Up in his seat, Chapati Lola and Frank were give a notecard explaining Lyra's magic, the fact that she didn't have any.

"_The news is in folks! Lyra's magic is... she doesn't have any?_" There was an audible gasp from most of the audience including Frank.

Lyra side-stepped and kicked Kagura in the stomach. The Mermaid took the kick in stride and refocused on her target.

Kagura's eyes narrowed again. "You... don't have any magic?" She asked slowly.

Lyra shook her head. "Nope! But if you really feel that upset about it you can give me some of yours."

"So you steal other people's magic."

Lyra cocked her head to the side. "I guess you could say that." She pondered. She grinned and waved on the girl tauntingly. "Gonna take your best shot Mermaid?"

"Do not challenge me Tiger." Kagura warned. She readied her sword again and swung it at her opponent. Lyra, to Kagura's amazement (not that she would admit it), giggled and ducked, dodging the strike.

"Why Mermaid? Afraid you'll lose?"

"I don't lose."

Lyra shrugged. "First time for everything."

Kagura took another swipe at the magicless girl and Lyra dodged again. This continued while they talked. A swipe to the head, Lyra would duck, a jab at the leg, Lyra would jump, a slash across her chest, Lyra would dance just out of range. Kagura saw the other girl playing with her, and saw the other girl enjoy it. Kagura did not like that.

"How can you be so sure of yourself?" She asked. "Two of your powerful teammates were beaten by my hand."

"I know." Lyra agreed. She grinned cheekily. "I'm better than them."

"_Lyra Young was born with a rare ability. This ability is labeled Void. A more common name for a Void is Witch Hunter._" The announcers explained, continuing to read off the notecard. "_Everybody is born with a certain amount with Magic Energy inside of them. The more powerful you are and depending on if you become a mage or not depends on your capacity to obtain and harness your magic energy. Lyra is Void of this essential energy._"

"So I take other's, and use it to make me stronger, faster, smarter, better." Lyra finished. "Try your best Kagura. Ain't no way you can win."

"Watch me." The girl with the sword said.

They squared off again and Kagura concentrated on trying to change Lyra's gravity. Lyra grinned widely as her pupils began dilate. Kagura's eyes grew wide as she began to grasp Lyra's power (or lack there of).

"Impossible." The girl whispered.

"Impossible's what I do best." Lyra responded. "What do you say Kagura? Hand to hand? No magic sword. No magic magic. Just good ole hand to hand combat."

The other members of Sabertooth who were conscious watched intensely as Kagura nodded and took the bait.

"OK."

A cheer went up among the Sabertooth members making other fans and Guilds worried. What had Kagura just agreed to?

Lyra slipped off her gloves one at a time. "_I am assuming removing her gloves means something, but as I have little to no idea about what a Void does, I don't know how to react._" Chapati said.

Kagura narrowed her eyes. She absorbs my M.E., what do the gloves have to do with anything? Is it just for dramatic flair? This Tiger does seem to like that...

Again the Tiger baited the Mermaid into making the first move. So Kagura attacked. Kagura made a punch at Lyra's face to which Lyra batted the girl's hand away. Nothing happened (much to Lyra's disappointment) because of the gloves that Kagura wore.

"Come on Kagi-"

"Don't call me that."

"Gonna even the playing field?"

"What do you mean?" Kagura asked suspiciously.

"Take it off!" Lyra encouraged cheerfully. Kagura studied the girl in black.

"I will not unrobe in front of thousands."

"I didn't mean your clothes, silly." Lyra said shaking her head. Kagura punched toward said head and Lyra stepsided. "I meant your gloves! What? Afraid to get your hands dirty?"

Everything within Kagura's mind told her it was a trap. She was absolutely positive that the Tiger had something up her sleeve. She had no explanation for what happened next. For why her body decided to humor the Tiger and pull her own gloves off. One at a time.

Lyra giggled again, and cracked her knuckles. "Now we can really have some fun. Don't ya think Kagi?"

"I said," Kagura began before sending a kick into her opponent's stomach, "stop calling me that."

"Actually." Lyra corrected, stumbling backwards with receiving the kick. "What you said was 'don't call me that' not a 'stop' in that phrase at all."

Sting found this sentence hilarious and cracked up. Kagura kicked at her once more but was stopped by Lyra's hand protecting her face. She clenched her fingers around Kagura's pretty white boot.

"Can't say I approve of the color." Lyra commented. "But nice kick! Too bad you were too slow." Then Lyra spun into Kagura's open torso (bringing Kagura's leg with her), and the off balance Gravity Mage went spiraling into the ground. Lyra was done talking. She was done putting on a show. She kicked Kagura's gloves away from the girl and Kagura sprung to her feet. Lyra sent a punch to her face, which she blocked with her naked hand. Lyra grasped the hand and Kagura's eyes went wide.

"Oh, yeah." Lyra added as Kagura's breathing became heavy. She tried to pull herself from the Witch Hunter's grip but to no avail. "I can also suck the M.E. out of you through touching. Did I not mention that?" The Void asked, grinning. Her pupils became bigger and her mind began to swim with utter joy. Oh the feeling of Magic was one she longed for. True, the Mermaid wasn't as quenching as the Dragon Slayers, but hey, it was hard to get more magical than Dragons.

Suddenly Lyra felt herself begin to rise, and not in a metaphorical way. Her feet actually weren't touching the ground. Lyra felt panic rise in her and she squirmed around in the air but didn't let go of the Gravity Mage. She bobbed up and down in the air which only made her feel sick and her fear grow worse.

"What are you doing?" Lyra demanded, hoping her terror wouldn't leak into her voice. "Stop!"

"I'm manipulating the gravity around you, instead of you personal center of gravity." The Mermaid answered.

Lyra actually whimpered.

Kagura actually scoffed. "What? Is the Mighty Witch Hunter afraid of heights?"

Well so much for hoping. "Get me the fuck down or I will drain so much M.E. from you that you die of Magic Deficiency Poisoning!"

"Ain't no way you can win, Lyra." Kagura echoed.

It was the wrong thing to say. When a person downs their lizard brain thinks of one thing and one thing only. That they need oxygen. They are willing to pull anyone down, including their saviors, just to get their head above the water. At this moment the same thing was happening to Lyra, Lyra was willing to do anything to get out of the air. Including killing the person in her way. With her free hand she pulled off one side of her jacket. A breeze blew past her and she ignored the cold, the fear of staying in the air was overtaking her senses. She pulled herself, with all her might, towards Kagura. She felt the pressure pulling her towards the sky fade and she realized how much M.E. Kagura had just expended. Kagura had tried valiantly, but in the end it had only resulted in a terrified, now-missing-her-jacket-and-gloves, breathing heavily, high off her head Lyra and an almost dead, definitely-going-to-suffer-from-magic-deficiency, unconscious Kagura. Lyra was breathing heavily and her world was spinning. She decided to sit down, she numbly felt herself being wrapped in something nice and fluffy. (_Fluff. Fluff. Fluff. Sooo soooooftttt._ She thought giggling.) She felt herself being lifted up and carried somewhere.

"Nice arms." She muttered before finding her happy place in blissful sleep.

Sting watched as his Guildmate sat, next to an unmoving opponent, giggling her head off. The crowd erupted into cheers. This had been the best day so far and the last fight had been one for the history books. Sting watched as the little pumpkin man checked Kagura's status while calling for the medics who were rushing around like a Mage who's rent was do the next day.

"She's down!" The pumpkin choked out, trying to sound upbeat for the sake of the Games. "SABERTOOTH WINS!" The fans screamed deafeningly for the winning team and Sting saw Lyra lazily wave to the cheering mass.

Sting ran to a medic and asked to borrow the shock blanket he held. The medic nodded and Sting gathered up Lyra's discarded clothing. He wrapped her in the blanket, stuffed her jacket and gloves next to her so he wouldn't lose them and struggled to rise to his feet with her lolling body in his hands.

"Heeeeeey Stiiiiiing." She whispered to herself. Sting ignored her ramblings. She rubbed her face in the blanket and giggled like a maniac. She poked his arm once and curled up in the blanket.

"Nice arms." She said in a stage whisper and soon she was snoring.

* * *

**HEY GUYS.**

**So if Lyra sounded a little crushy on Sting it's probably because I kinda have a crush on him so it leaked into Lyra's character a little. **

**WOAH guys. Word count on this is like, over 5,670. That's the most I've ever had on a chapter, so sorry if it was too long. Also if you find more spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes than usual it's because I wrote a good portion of this on my phone. But feel free to tell me and I'll fix them. **

**Like always, I'd love to hear your voices, so comment or review or whatever below! And hopefully I'll update soon! **

**Until next time!**

**~ Diana**


	12. Blue Pegasus VS Lamia Scale

**Hey all! We have (at most) three chapters left after this! *gasps, cries, screams, etc.* This chapter is a little fluffy, a little short, but it gets the point across.**

**See you at the bottom!**

**~ Diana**

* * *

Lyra woke up because she was finding it hard to breathe. She blinked her sleepy eyes open and felt the sudden drowsiness that came after a big M.E. lunch. Where was she? She glanced around the room to find herself in an infirmary. To her right lay a bandaged but sleeping Orga. To her left lay nobody. On her bed lay Sabertooth's Twin Dragons, and their Exceeds. Lyra immediately realized why she was finding it hard to breathe, said Exceeds lay on her chest, their heads on her breasts, one each. The weight of the cats was making essential things, like breathing, difficult. Their tails were also curled around them, every now and then waving into Lyra's face, making the Void want to sneeze. She wanted to move to make her breaths easier but the boys on her bed were sleeping so soundly, it was adorable!

Lyra carefully and quietly shifted upward as she tried to sit up. The Exceeds rolled over in their sleep, and down to her lap. Sting didn't wake up and kept on snoring. Rogue, however, blinked a lazy eye open, sat up, cracked his back, and yawned. He looked around the room, and massaged his neck.

He smiled when he saw Lyra awake and Lyra smiled back.

"Morning." Lyra whispered, not wanting to wake one of her Dragon Slayers and her Exceeds up. _Wait. Hers? _ She analyzed what she had just thought. Though it was true that Sabertooth was not a family as much as a hierarchy of ruthless mages, she did feel as though a lot of them _were_ her family. Or not her _family_ as much as they were hers. _Just hers_. Especially the boys she had spent to last eighteen or so days with. She considered them to be hers, much like the way that a Dragon would consider something that belonged to them, theirs. The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth, the Minstrel Who Sings To The Red Moon, the Lighting God Slayer, and the Exceeds belonged to her. But just as much as they belonged to her she belonged to them, at least she belonged to the Dragon Slayers, which was why they were currently by her bedside.

"Morning." Rogue said in his normal tone. Lyra opened her mouth and Rogue cut her off. "You can speak at a normal decibel. Sting has slept through an earthquake, you won't wake him."

"OK." Lyra said louder. She wiggled her arms out from under the blanket and stretched. "What day is it? What happened?"

"You've been out for like seventeen hours." Rogue explained. "Today is the day that Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus play. Last I heard, Blue Pegasus was winning."

"Did we make it into the finals?" Lyra asked.

"With the way you beat Kagura? We better have. Do you remember that?"

"My memory goes a little fuzzy when it gets to me taking my jacket off."

"You almost completely drained her. Mermaid Heel wouldn't allow her to be in the same room as you, and the medics are working non-stop to try and save her from Magic Deficiency."

Lyra sighed. "I didn't mean for the fight to go on that long. I told her I would win, she didn't listen."

"Yeah, well…" Rogue trailed off before leaning forward and resting his hands on the bed. "How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Like I gotta go to the bathroom." Lyra answered truthfully. She shimmed her way out from under her Exceeds and Sting and realized that she was barely wearing any clothes. She wore a white tank top that someone had dressed her in and black shorts. _Guess I gotta be careful then_. She thought to herself as she walked down the hall, looking for a bathroom.

When she came back she found that everyone in the room was awake and another person was in there too. The woman put her hands on her hips and a sick smile plays her face.

"I heard you passed out."

Lyra crosses her arms. She glared at the little princess of Sabertooth. "You heard correctly."

"He won't be pleased."

"Just because he hates you doesn't mean he hates everybody." Lyra spit out the words before thinking them through and Minerva reached out to slap the girl, Lyra caught her wrist and the two glared at each other. Minerva had never liked Lyra. Lyra had never liked Minerva. It was as simple as that.

"What are you doing?" The rumbling voice broke the girls apart and they both bowed as their master walked in.

"She started it!" Lyra said first and Minerva glared at the Void.

Jiemma ignored the trash before him and turned to the weaklings in the back of the room. "Get over here." He hissed at them. They scampered towards him like the pathetic beings they were and he grabbed the two who had failed him by their necks. The Lighting God Slayer and Shadow Dragon Slayer struggled to breathe, fear in their eyes. He almost grinned. He loved the fear in their eyes; fear showed someone exactly why they were weak. Jiemma did not fear anything, therefore he was not weak, at least that was how he saw it.

"You failed." Were the two words that reverberated around in the Slayers' heads. Rogue's lungs began to burn, he couldn't breathe. Master Jiemma dropped them on their asses and Rogue and Orga choked in luscious air.

They looked towards the ground. They knew they had punishments coming, they were ready to accept them. "Minerva." He ordered. The princess of Sabertooth flipped her long hair over one shoulder and grinned wickedly. She held out her hands and Rogue and Orga gritted their teeth as they took their punishment. The air on all sides of them became super-heated and began to burn their skin. Then it would stop, she could let them cool off but before they could lick their wounds she would burn them again. And again. And again and again. This went on for an hour, but Orga and Rogue held their tongues and didn't scream, they knew if they did Master Jiemma would probably add Sting or Lyra to the mix and their punishments would be worse. When Jiemma was finally satisfied he held up a hand, indicating for Minerva to stop. She did and he gave everyone one dagger filled glare before striding out of the room. Frosch ran up to his bleeding Dragon slayer.

"Rogue! Rogue! Can you hear me?" He cried, big, fat, wet tears pouring out of his eyes. Rogue grunted in response.

Minerva scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Pathetic." She commented. Lyra wanted to slap the bitch. But she just clenched her fist and took the jab in silence.

"Get out." A soft voice said. Everyone turned to see Sting, who hadn't spoken this entire time, balling his fists, trying to keep tears from shedding. "I said, _GET OUT!_" He roared. Minerva and Lyra exchanged looks. He wanted to help Rogue lick his wounds in peace, so be it. The girls left the room and walked in a hateful silence.

"Where have you been?" Lyra asked, shattering the quiet.

"A job." Minerva said flippantly.

"Master J let you go on a job during the Games?"

"No." Minerva scoffed. "I went before the Games, it ran over. Not like you'd care."

"Minerva, not this again, you know I don't have any say in how you dad treats everyone. It's not my fault he treats me better than most." Lyra whined. She didn't see the punch coming but she sure as hell felt it. She stumbled back into the wall and glanced into Minerva's steely eyes.

"If you ever say that again I will-"

"You'll what Princess, use your magic on me?" Lyra asked with a smirk. The fun-loving Lyra was gone, she always was when Minerva was involved. The girls were like oil and water, they never mixed.

Minerva tried to punch Lyra again but Lyra knew it was coming, she ducked and kicked Minerva in the stomach. Minerva stumbled backward and Lyra put her bare foot on Minerva's split skirt. One inch to the right and she would hit the girl's naked leg.

"Don't-"

Lyra pretended to ponder the warning. "Aww, why not? Is it because you're afraid I'll-"

"I said don't!" Minerva kicked upward with her shoe, sending Lyra tumbling over the other girl. Both of them screamed on contact and quickly rolled away from each other. Minerva breathed heavily and Lyra became more attuned to her surroundings, a second and a half worth of touch and she was already feeling Minerva's M.E.

"Woah…" They heard someone say. They snapped their heads over to where a boy and his father were, they had been walking down the hallway when they had come across the battling Sabers. With a twist in her stomach Lyra realized who the boy and his father were. They were Fairies.

"What are you doing here, you Fairy Trash?" Minerva hissed.

(New) Master M and his son took an involuntary step back. "Get out of here!" Lyra ordered. They turned on their heel and ran.

But in that short encounter the girls had found their right minds. They warily began walking again, realizing that fights were irrational and stupid considering Lyra had a guild to fight tomorrow and Master Jiemma would get mad if his precious Witch Hunter was hurt. But neither girl went off guard, each expecting the other to attack at any minute. That was how it usually was between the two of them, both always ready for a fight, neither willing to be the instigator.

They walked back to the Honeybone and Lyra ordered some food while she caught up with her fellow Guild Members. Minerva disappeared at some point and the Slayers reappeared, their wounds licked and mostly gone. They seemed to be OK. Rufus, however, didn't. A long gash on his head had been bound, he didn't like to lift his head up from the table because the lights were too bright, and his hands were bandaged as well. He wouldn't get up to do anything and he hadn't had a chance to buy a new hat since his old one was killed.

The day wore on and the Sabertooth Guild barely watched the screen as Lamia Scale made a comeback and became victorious over Blue Pegasus. Master B just shrugged and said "well, there's always next years." In a light tone. _Yeah right,_ Lyra thought as she chugged a beer. _Like Sabertooth'll win this year, and they'll win next year. Because we're awesome like that._ The Sabertooth Guild ended up rejoicing that night because they could _so obviously _beat Lamia Scale and Sting ended up becoming so drunk he almost proposed to Minerva which made everyone almost die of laughter. Minerva had blushed during his advances and then hastily yelled at everyone to "shut the fuck up, get sober, and go away!"

Soon everyone was drunk off their ass and only when the Fairy Fuck-Ups came into the bar did Sabertooth begin to file out, but not without their barbs at the pathetic losers.

"Ya know, Fairy Tail is so bad, their Master couldn't even win against Toby." Someone said at one point, and from then on the Sabertooth members went around insulting Fairy Tail in the 'Your Mama' joke style.

Full, drunk, happy, and laughing-so-hard-she-might-pee, Lyra decided it was time for bed. She wanted to sober up before the Games tomorrow. She waved goodbye to her Guild who hooted and hollered back and she stumbled to her room.

* * *

***gasps* Omg, what could possibly happen now? Yes, I have introduced Minerva, yes I do know what I am doing. Like always, I'd love to hear your voices! Guest, not a guest, follower, not a follower, whatever. :) Have a great day. **

**~ Diana**


	13. Sabertooth VS Lamia Scale

**Hey everyone! So this is the last chapter and there will be an epilogue, but it'll be like, super duper short. Like maybe not even 100 words short. **

**To Levy Cheney (Guest): Hiiiii! You're welcome for the update! I would love to, but Lyra's actions in this chapter are kinda limited *gasps* (SPOILERS!). I guess you'll have to just read and find out. **

**Fro think so too!**

**See ya at the bottom!**

**~ Diana**

* * *

_Did someone just scream_? Lector didn't wake up easily. Ever. So when he found himself curled up besides a snoring and drooling Sting Eucliffe he had no idea what to do. Should he wake Sting up? He rolled over and desperately tried to go back to sleep, but it was all in vein and he stretched, deciding to walk around.

He jumped off the high bed and pulled on his vest. He tip-toed to the door, because Frosch and Rogue were still sleeping, and Rogue was a light sleeper, they needed to be ready for the Games tomorrow! Sabertooth was going to win! He let out his wings, flying just high enough that he could reach it, and opened said door. Then he was faced with a bright common room. The light lacrima was still on and he wondered whose brilliant idea that was because when everyone on Team Sabertooth woke up in the morning the first thing their hungover eyes would see was bright light. Lector chuckled at imagining what the expressions on the teammates would be. He was about to stretch out and relax on the couch when he heard a loud _thunk_.

_I wonder what that was_… he thought to himself.

"Hello? Anyone there?" He asked. No one answered.

He wandered around looking for the cause of the noise. He opened the door to Orga and Rufus's room. Orga slept with his bandages off, he had fully healed which was good because he needed to be at his best so they could win. The large God Slayer slept restlessly, turning over and over until he was completely wrapped in a cocoon of his blankets. Rufus slept like an angel. He slept on his side, and his arms curled up under his head. His white, poofy nightgown covered his arms to their wrists and his blankets were pulled up to his armpits. Lector flew above him and looked around the room, nothing looked like it would have caused the noise.

Lector flew out of the room and closed the door quietly. He opened Lyra's door and found that it squeaked horribly. He froze, not sure if he had woken her up, he didn't want to wake her and was sure that she would hurt him if she caught him. But the lump on the bed didn't move so he figured he was OK until he smelled blood. He stepped in a large puddle of the red liquid and he grimaced, rubbing his nose, what was going on? Where did all the blood come from? He flew up and screamed out of shock.

_Sting dreamt of blood, it surrounded him. He didn't know where it had come from. It was everywhere. He swam through the crimson death as he tried to rise above it. He looked up, through the viscous red he could see a light. He tried to swim upward but something kept pulling him farther and farther down into the scarlet depths. _

He bolted upright when he heard Lector scream. Rogue and Frosch also were awake. The scream had been heard by everyone on the Sabertooth team and they had all been jolted out of sleep. They stumbled into the common room, the bright light flooded their hung over senses but they didn't stop moving towards the sound of Lector hyperventilating and the smell of blood. Lyra's door hung wide open.

The boys of Sabertooth came to a halt when Lector came barreling out of the room. His eyes were tearing up and he hugged his Dragon Slayer tightly, his back paws were wet from blood.

"What happened Lector?" Sting demanded of his Exceed.

The small cat took big breaths and managed out. "Lyra- Lyra is-" before he burst into tears. Sting pushed past his friend and turned on the light in Lyra's room. The smell of death assaulted his senses as he stared at Lyra's decapitated body. She lay on her bed, wrapped in a blanket. Cuts and bruises decorated her lifeless body and her head was about a foot separated with it. Her scarlet life dyed the sheets with their color and her glossy eyes were open, staring at him, blaming him for not waking up, blaming him for letting her die.

He stumbled backwards when he felt something wet under his feet. The smell of her death was fresh. She had been killed less than an hour ago. And he hadn't known.

"Sting." He heard Rogue speak but he couldn't listen, he was trying desperately not to go into White Drive.

"Sting." His Twin repeated. He whipped around to face the boy.

"What? What is it Rogue?"

"You're standing in her blood." He said softly. Sting looked down and saw that something had been drawn in her wet blood. When he moved his bare feet he smelled her stench go with him. Sting smelled like Lyra's death. He turned his head trying to figure out what had been drawn but after a while he realized what the crimson F and C meant.

"Those bandits." Sting heard his own voice say hoarsely. "The ones from training. They did this to her."

There were pounding footsteps and the common room door burst open. Sting was surprised to find that his entire Guild had been woken up and began to flood in. Orga had gone to get them. People pushed and shoved trying to find their way to see the spectacle of Lyra's corpse. Sting's gut twisted and he suddenly felt very sick.

"What's going on here?" A rumbling commanding voice asked. The Guild member split in half. Master Jiemma walked towards the dead girl and surveyed the room. He humphed. "Where's Minerva?" He asked.

Minerva strode forward. Her father turned to her. "You're the girl's replacement for tomorrow." He turned to leave.

"What about Lyra?" Sting cried. Everyone turned to look at the Dragon Slayer. Rogue blushed as his Twin spoke. _No Sting, don't do this, you know what the answer will be_…

"What about her?" Jiemma asked warningly.

Sting ignored his tone. "A member of your Guild just_ died_ a horrible death! And you're just going to go back to _bed_?"

Jiemma's eyes narrowed. "Yes. You have a problem with that?"

"A MEMBER OF YOUR GUILD JUST DIED!" Sting roared.

Jiemma's voice became colder than usual but Sting wasn't listening, his was about to go into White Drive. "She was weak. She died. She shouldn't have been in this Guild, if she was supposed to be she would have been strong enough to survive." Rogue grabbed his Twin's arms. His eyes warned the other boy not to. With Rogue by his side Sting began to cool off, but only a little. "Everyone go to bed. Dragon Slayers," he glared disdainfully at the room, "clean up this mess. I won't pay extra for the damage caused." Rogue's hand tightened around Sting's arm. "And Sting, never ever argue with me again. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Rogue answered for the blond boy.

Sabertooth filed out of the room one by one leaving Sting and Rogue to clean up the blood left behind by the murderers. Orga and Rufus sympathetically (or as sympathetic as you could get from Sabertooth) closed the door, only to return after a few minutes with scrubbing materials, then leave again. Rogue and Sting made Lector and Frosch leave, they didn't want their Exceeds to see this. The cats had tried to fight them on this, but when Lector broke down in snotty tears because he had heard her scream and didn't do anything, they made it out of the question.

Sting knelt by the signature, and glared ferociously at the F and C. He hissed under his breath about his anger. "I can't believe him, Rogue I-" He froze, realizing that the boy hadn't moved since the door had shut the first time. "Rogue?" Sting stood and turned to the Dragon Slayer. _Was- was Rogue shaking? _Sting cautiously put a hand on Rogue's shoulder. Rogue immediately froze, only to break a minute later and let a sob escape. Sting pulled the boy away from their dead friend's body and to face him.

"Rogue?" Sting asked softly.

Rogue wiped his eyes. "We couldn't help her Sting." He choked out, his eyes were bleary. "We were asleep while she died, we didn't even wake up. Why didn't we wake up Sting?" Sting held the black-haired boy to his chest and stared blankly at the dead girl behind him. Everything Rogue had asked was the same thing that he had been wondering. Their Lyra had died, and they had slept through it. Sting didn't answer any of the questions his Twin had asked him, only because he couldn't provide one for himself.

Cleaning the blood took rather quickly; soon all that was left the deal with was the body. Her body. A silent decision was made, and the Twins managed inconspicuously drag her out of the Honeybone. The Twins walk out of the city, looking for anywhere they can mark a spot and bury the Void.

As they walk they replayed their moments with her in their minds. Sting recalled the time he poured water on her. Rogue recalled the time she made him do pushups. It all seemed so long ago to them. It had been less than a month. But that was how it was with family, any Dragon Slayer could tell you that. From the minute you meet them to the minute they leave you, it feels like a lifetime. And one hell of a lifetime that was.

"Here." Rogue stops in his tracks. "We should bury her here."

Sting looked at his surroundings. It was still dark so they were hard to disern, but he was sure they were on a grassy hill. Broken columns are placed in odd places around the hill and rubble from what once could have been a marble building is strewn everywhere. There are two flat pieces of marble jutting out of the ground. The Sting laid her carpet wrapped body on the ground, and Rogue gently placed her head wrapped in a ruined pillow case next to it. They bent down and dug a decent grave. They placed her there and filled the hole back up. Sting bent down and stared at the marble plateau. Carefully, using his Holy Ray, he etched words into the marble. He turned to Rogue and sighed, looking at his feet, or rather who lay beneath them.

"We're going to miss you Witch Hunter." Sting said. He turned to his Twin, who had just finished crying again.

"Yeah." Rogue agreed. Sting put this arm around his friend, but the boy shrugged it off. "I'm fine." He lied.

Sting could tell his wasn't being truthful and nodded, looking at the gravestone he had etched. "Yeah. Me too." He said.

The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth walked back to the Honeybone, but by the time they got back it was past dawn, and their last match would start soon.

"_Teeeeeaaaaam SABERTOOOOTH_!"

As Sting stared out at the voluminous crowds thought of the girl who had been replaced. He glanced at Rogue and realized that he was thinking about the same thing.

"For Lyra?" He asked.

Rogue nodded, a determined look in his eyes. "For Lyra." He agreed. Lamia Scale never knew what hit them.

_Lyra Young_

_Void/Witch Hunter_

_Beloved Friend, and Guildmate_

_X772-X790_

* * *

**I would like to apologize to everyone who didn't see this coming. But in answer to GhostOfOnyx's first review. This is why she doesn't appear in x971! Sooooo...**

**I love you all, and remember an epilogue is coming (you won't get rid of me that easily! Muhahaha). **

**See you then! **

**~ Diana**


	14. Epilogue

**WOAH, so this is way longer than I originally thought... being a little less than 1K words. Not long but a good deal more than I planned. So this ended up being so long because I started the scene and couldn't find a perfect stopping point until I finished the manga and was like, _Well that is actually good_. I can't take credit from almost all of the dialogue in here and the manga debut chapter is 458 (I think?) Soooo yeah. **

**See ya at the bottom for an announcement!**

**~ Diana**

* * *

Cold air. That's what Sting felt at first. Just cold air. Not that that was a bad thing after a fight. The Fiore Citizens had been hunted down and brought to justice or killed directly after the Grand Magic Games had ended. He had visited Lyra and told her so. She didn't reply, but he could imagine it. She would have laughed and make a cheeky reply about him and Rogue needing help from Orga and/or Rufus. He would have called her Witch Hunter and she would have called him Dragon Slayer. Lector would have pissed her off and she would have yelled at him before cuddling Frosch.

He missed her.

They both did.

"Hey Lyra, thought you would find this funny. You too Rogue," he said, sitting on her tombstone. Now that he had begun speaking to her, the air didn't seem so cold. He felt like this was the closest he could ever get to her again. Rogue refused to sit next to him so he stood next to her grave, thinking. Sting was the only one who would talk to her, at least out loud. "Apparently they've come back."

"What are you talking about?" Rogue asked.

"The core members of Fairy Tail who disappeared seven years ago."

"I'm not interested."

"Don't lie to me, Rogue." Sting said as he surveyed the field of injured Dark Guild members before them. "Especially when you looked up to Natsu all those years ago." _I wonder if Lyra did too? _Sting thought. He quickly perished it because of the absurdity._ Nah, Lyra didn't look up to anyone. She didn't need to. Especially not those Fairy Twerps._

"That was a long time ago." Rogue responded.

"Man, taking about seven years ago really makes me nostalgic… I was so small back then." _You would have liked me, Lyra. Rogue was tiny too. _"You were Gajeel's apprentice back then, right? Man… Gajeel was really scary."

"Don't cling to the past, Sting." _Don't cling to Lyra._ "Those people were not there on the path we took." _But she was, at least for part of it. _

Someone comes running past his unconscious Guildmates. "I FOUND YOU!" He shouted. He nocked an arrow. "DIE!" Sting caught it, and munched on it while he thought. "He ate…" the man seemed at a loss for words. "the arrow… huh? No way! He can't be!" But he was. Sting let out a spell and the man fell to the ground from shock. _Lyra would have done it with more finesse. _

"Ooh, you let your bad side slip out a bit, didn't ya?"

"YOU'RE THEM! THE TWIN DRAGONS OF SABERTOOTH!" The member shouted.

"Are you going to abandon your comrades? You're really scum." Sting said as he lazily stood and walked over to the man. The man screamed and ran.

"They're a dark guild after all." Rogue commented. _Even though Sabertooth did the same to Lyra_.

"Uh-oh." Lector said to Frosch. "Sting really over did it again, didn't he?"

"Where did Lector and Frosch go?" Sting asked, he couldn't see them from where he stood.

The Exceeds walked towards their friends. "We were just doing a bit of reconassince. It's the fire dragon and the iron dragon… and we won't be second best to the sky dragon-" Lector informed the duo.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch said helpfully.

_I bet Lyra would have loved to see us take them down_. Lector thought as he glanced over where her resting place lay. He high-fived his friend.

"Right?" Sting asked.

"After all, you're the most powerful Dragon Slayer, Sting!"

"I think as of now, I would definitely be able to beat Natsu."

"Yeah, of course you would!" Lector encouraged.

"Wanna go have a duel with him? Rogue?"

"Not interested." The Shadow Dragon Slayer rejected. They walked away. Soon they would be back in the Games. And they'd win again. Or at least, they'd try.

"Fro think so too!"

* * *

**First off, I would like to thank everyone for reading and those who favorited/commented/reviewed/followed, everyone gets a bit shout-out and thank you. **

**ANNOUNCEMENT**** TIME**

**So if anyone is interested, I am actually writing a GaLe/Gajeevy story which will include NaLu, slight JerZa and slight GrUvia. The first chapter should be uploaded before September 1, but I'm horrible with schedules. It's a Modern Day/High School AU so please check it out! I don't know what I'm rating it yet or naming it (gotta figure that out) but I'm figuring for rating probably T or M if it gets there. ****Of course there will be minor abuse (because Gajeel and Levy), foul language (because _Gajeel_), and possibly other stuff. **

**I love you all and hope you have great lives! **

**XOXO**

**~ Diana**


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